God
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I'm thoroughly amazed at this one. The number
and variety of words that are derived from God are, well, divine. The
root for the English word "god" is Germanic which originally
may have meant "to call" or "invoke." From this comes
the word "Giddy" which originally meant "possessed by god"
and more specifically, "insane."
But more interesting is the roots and derivatives of the word, divine
or diety. The Indo-European roots (words that almost all European languages
have in common along with Sanskrit) of the word diety is "to
shine" and thus the derivative meanings of the heavenly beings which
are the source of light. Hence the word "day" is related to
"deus" in this way. The Judeo-Christian story in Genesis begins
with the creation of light and day. But this idea of God as the source
of light is common to most, if not all, religious traditions.
Jove (which we get by softening the consonant "d" into a "j"
sound), for example, is the god of the bright sky. A person who is said
to be "jovial" is light-hearted. The month of July is derived
from the Latin version of that god's name, Iulius, which is also the name
of one of the great emperors of Rome. Jupiter was the head of the Roman
pantheon of gods. Zeus was also derived from Deus (not hard to see). Dianthus
is the Latin for carnations which originally meant, "Zeus' flower"
(anthos meaning flower).
Another softening of Deos is Theos which has cognates in the Germanic
and Norse "Tiw" and "Thor." Tiw is actually the old
English genetive or possesive when connected to the third day of the week,
"Tuesday" which literally means "God's day." The god
in that meaning is the god of war and sky.
From the Latin root word "divus" comes "diva" and
the name "Diana" or moon goddess.
Finally, the word day and its many varients comes from this same root.
Dial, diary (an accounting of what one has done each day), diet (a plan
for what we should eat each day), journal, journey, adjourn, sojourn (all
from Latin via French "jour"). The word "dismal" is
a combination of the Latin for day + mal which means literally, "having
a bad day." Circadian, meridian, quotidian (ordinary things which
happen each day) all belong to this branch of the root word.
From the Sanskrit form of the word is Devi who is the mother goddess and
the consort to Shiva. She also seems to be the source for the name of
one of the most important trees in India, "deodara" No connection
to "deoderant" as far as I can tell.
I'm out of breath!