demiurge

American  

[dem-ee-urj] / ˈdɛm iˌɜrdʒ /

noun

1. Philosophy.

   1. Platonism. the artificer of the world.

   2. (in the Gnostic and certain other belief systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.

2. (in many states of ancient Greece) a public official or magistrate.

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demiurge British  

/ ˈdiː-, ˈdɛmɪˌɜːdʒ /

noun

1. 1. (in the philosophy of Plato) the creator of the universe

   2. (in Gnostic and some other philosophies) the creator of the universe, supernatural but subordinate to the Supreme Being

2. (in ancient Greece) a magistrate with varying powers found in any of several states

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Other Word Forms

• demiurgeous adjective
• demiurgic adjective
• demiurgical adjective
• demiurgically adverb

Etymology

Origin of demiurge

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Greek dēmiourgós “a worker for the people, public worker, skilled worker,” equivalent to dḗmio(s) “of the people, public” + -ergos “a worker,” derivative of érgon work ( )

Example Sentences

It portrays the country’s leader as a human being instead of a grand demiurge, responsible for its future.

From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2021

He had cast Mailer in the “Cremaster” series, and Mailer, who died in 2007, became not only a mentor but also a kind of peculiar American demiurge in the Barney pantheon.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2015

Mix a stoic perfectionist, a grin-on-the-mound extrovert and a teenage demiurge in the Nats’ clubhouse and what do you get?

From Washington Post • Jun. 8, 2012

The demiurge presides over a world that suffers under the tyranny of the laws of nature, and Urizen is as imprisoned by the constraints of space and time as are the individuals who follow him.

From The Guardian • Aug. 17, 2010

How can we know that we are not being systematically deceived by some demonic demiurge?

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton