Deify
/ˈdiː.ɪ.faɪ/noun
To make or regard as a god; to exalt to divine status.
Did you know?It comes from Latin *deificare*, literally “to make a god,” built from *deus* (“god”) and *facere* (“to make”), so the word itself encodes the act of transformation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*deiwós
“shining one; god”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰeh₁-
“to put, place, make”
Latin
Latin
deus
“god”
Latin
Latin
deificāre
“to make divine; to make a god of”
Old French
OF
deifier
“to deify; to make divine”
Middle English
English
deifien
“to make a god of; to exalt as divine”
Modern English
English
deify
“to make or regard as a god”