English
daemonize
Daemonize comes from Ancient Greek δαιμονίζομαι ‘to be possessed by a demon’, from δαίομαι ‘to divide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-1‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαι1daíomai‘to divide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμων2daímōn‘demon’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαιμονίζομαι2daimonízomai‘to be possessed by a demon’
- Englishtodaydaemonize2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων
- 2 Wiktionary, English daemonize
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαιWiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμωνdaíomai‘to divide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμωνWiktionary, English daemonizedaímōn‘demon’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαιμονίζομαιWiktionary, English daemonizedaimonízomai‘to be possessed by a demon’
- EnglishtodaydaemonizeWiktionary, English daemonize
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, to divide’
time, till, tide, til, tease, tass, 22 more
through Ancient Greek δαίομαι ‘to divide’
through Ancient Greek δαίμων ‘demon’
Today it means
verb Of a computer program or script, to prepare to go in to the background and become a daemon.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “daemonize”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek δαίμων. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- / daemonize