Etymograph

English

god

God comes from Old English god, from Proto-West Germanic *god, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gudą ‘god, deity’, whose earlier origin is unknown.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudą1‘god, deity’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*god1‘god, deity’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150god1‘god’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500god1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1530god1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English god
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1530, William Tyndall, An aunſwere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue: “And ſuch is to beare yͤ names of god…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gudąWiktionary, English god‘god, deity’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*godWiktionary, English god‘god, deity’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150godWiktionary, English god‘god’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500godWiktionary, English god
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1530godWiktionary, English god. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1530, William Tyndall, An aunſwere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue: “And ſuch is to beare yͤ names of god…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with god, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- ‘to pour’

  • chemist ← chimiste ← chimie ← chymie ← chimia
  • futile ← fūtilis ← fūtis ← *houtis ← *ǵʰéw-tis ~ *ǵʰu-téy-s
  • gust ← gustr ← *gustiz
  • futility ← fūtilitās ← fūtilis ← fūtis ← *houtis
  • gush ← guschen ← guysen
  • geyser ← Geysir ← geysa ← geysa ← *gausijaną
  • ingot

through Proto-West Germanic *god ‘god, deity’

  • giddy ← gidi ← gidiġ ← *gudīg

through Old English god

27 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “god”. 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-Germanic *gudą / god