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demiurge

[dem-ee-urj]
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noun
  1. Philosophy.
    1. Platonism.the artificer of the world.
    2. (in the Gnostic and certain other 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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Origin of demiurge

1590–1600; < Greek dēmiourgós a worker for the people, skilled worker, equivalent to dḗmio(s) of the people (derivative of dêmos the people) + -ergos a worker, derivative of érgon work, with oe > ou
Related formsdem·i·ur·geous [dem-ee-ur-juh s] /ˌdɛm iˈɜr dʒəs/, dem·i·ur·gic, dem·i·ur·gi·cal, adjectivedem·i·ur·gi·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for demiurgic

Historical Examples

  • Balzac's characters, to whatever class they belong, bear the royal and passionate stamp of their demiurgic creator.

    Suspended Judgments

    John Cowper Powys

  • As befits a demiurgic nature, Æschylus conceived and executed upon a stupendous scale.

  • Much that has been described as Asiatic in the genius of Æschylus may be referred to what I have called his demiurgic force.

  • It is he whom an ancient monument represents as the demiurgic principle creating the mundane egg.

    The Ceramic Art

    Jennie J. Young

  • That the sun was here regarded as symbolizing the intermediate father, or demiurgic creator, cannot be doubted.

    Ophiolatreia

    Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for demiurgic

demiurge

noun
    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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Derived Formsdemiurgeous, demiurgic or demiurgical, adjectivedemiurgically, adverb

Word Origin

C17: from Church Latin dēmiūrgus, from Greek dēmiourgos skilled workman, literally: one who works for the people, from dēmos people + ergon work
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for demiurgic

demiurge

n.

1670s, from Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, literally "public or skilled worker" (from demos "common people;" see demotic + ergos "work;" see urge (v.)).

The title of a magistrate in some Peloponnesian city-states and the Achæan League; taken in Platonic philosophy as a name for the maker of the world. In the Gnostic system, "conceived as a being subordinate to the Supreme Being, and sometimes as the author of evil" [OED].

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper