English
deva
Deva comes from Sanskrit देव ‘deity, god’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘to be bright, to shine’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-1‘to be bright, to shine’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deywós1‘god, the celestial one’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*daywás1‘god’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*daywás1reconstructed
- Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEदेव2deva‘deity, god’
- Englishtodaydeva2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit देव
- 2 Wiktionary, English deva
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-Wiktionary, Sanskrit देव‘to be bright, to shine’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deywósWiktionary, Sanskrit देव‘god, the celestial one’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*daywásWiktionary, Sanskrit देव‘god’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*daywásWiktionary, Sanskrit देवreconstructed
- Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEदेवWiktionary, English devadeva‘deity, god’
- EnglishtodaydevaWiktionary, English deva
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘to be bright, to shine’
die, journal, journey, diary, dial, meridian, dev, sojourn, jovial, diurnal, diviner, deism, deist, 28 more
through Proto-Indo-European *deywós ‘god, the celestial one’
divine, divinity, deity, joss, diva, divination, deuce, 16 more
through Proto-Indo-Iranian *daywás ‘god’
Today it means
noun A god in Vedic mythology, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “deva”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit देव. 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 *dyew- / deva