Etymograph

English

kathenotheism

Kathenotheism comes from Ancient Greek καθ᾽ ἕνα ‘one by one’, from θεός ‘god’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s1‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁sós1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tʰehós1‘god, deity’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθεός2theós‘god’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθ᾽ ἕνα2kath’ héna‘one by one’
  7. Englishtodaykathenotheism2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θεός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English kathenotheism

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θεός‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁sWiktionary, Ancient Greek θεός‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁sósWiktionary, Ancient Greek θεόςreconstructed
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tʰehósWiktionary, Ancient Greek θεός‘god, deity’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθεόςWiktionary, English kathenotheismtheós‘god’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθ᾽ ἕναWiktionary, English kathenotheismkath’ héna‘one by one’
  7. EnglishtodaykathenotheismWiktionary, English kathenotheism

The story

Coined 19th century by Max Müller from the phrase Ancient Greek καθ’ ἕνα (kath’ héna, “one by one”) and the word θεός (theós, “god”), following theism, extending the prior coinage henotheism by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling which he had himself popularised.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, fact, deal, hot, fan, fashion, mid, defense, benefit, feature, custom, defence, theme, treasury, sufficient, ethnic, treasure, ethical, defendant, doom, tick, aesthetic, deed, synthetic, thesis, auditorium, auditor, demi, ethic, deem, spade, familial, medial, forfeit, ethos, medallion, prefect, certify, duma, thematic, 111 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god, godhead, deity’

fair, feast, dis, feral, fanatic, profanity, profane, fane, fayre, 21 more

through Ancient Greek θεός ‘god’

theology, atheist, atheism, apotheosis, polytheism, monotheism, theist, pantheism, 14 more

Today it means

noun Belief that multiple deities exist, and different deities are supreme among them at different times.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kathenotheism”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek θεός. 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 *dʰeh₁- / kathenotheism

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