Etymograph

English

eudaemon

Eudaemon comes from Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων ‘one who has achieved Eudaimonia’, from δαίμων ‘god, destiny’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, to divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-1‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαι1daíomai‘to divide’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμων2‘god, destiny’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὐδαίμων3eudaímōn‘one who has achieved Eudaimonia’
  5. Englishtodayeudaemon3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English eudaemon

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαιWiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμωνdaíomai‘to divide’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμωνWiktionary, Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων‘god, destiny’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεὐδαίμωνWiktionary, English eudaemoneudaímōn‘one who has achieved Eudaimonia’
  5. EnglishtodayeudaemonWiktionary, English eudaemon

Equivalent to eu- + daemon

Proto-Indo-European *h₁su- ‘good’

Proto-Hellenic *ehu- ‘good’

Ancient Greek ἐΰς ‘good, brave, noble’

Ancient Greek εὖ ‘well, good’

English eu-

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, to divide’

Ancient Greek δαίομαι ‘to divide’

Ancient Greek δαίμων ‘dispenser, tutelary deity’

Latin daemōn ‘tutelary deity’

English daemon

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’

demonic, demonize, 14 more

through Ancient Greek δαίμων ‘god, destiny’

demon, daimon, 16 more

Today it means

noun A good or benevolent spirit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eudaemon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δαίμων, Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων. 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- / eudaemon