deva

[dey-vuh]

noun

Hinduism, Buddhism. a god or divinity.
Zoroastrianism. one of an order of evil spirits.

Origin of deva

From Sanskrit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for deva

Historical Examples of deva

And yet we know that there never was such a Deva, or god, or such a thing as Varuna.
India: What can it teach us?
F. Max Mller
The positive force you call the Deva or Sura; his face is turned, it seems, to God.
Avatras
Annie Besant
That gives them a special affinity for one Deva rather than for another.
Evolution of Life and Form
Annie Wood Besant
And perhaps, while he is about it, he might get killed in a Deva gorge.
Northern Spain
Edgar T. A. Wigram
It is the great caon of the Deva, one of the finest passes in the world.
Northern Spain
Edgar T. A. Wigram

British Dictionary definitions for deva

deva

noun

(in Hinduism and Buddhism) a divine being or god

Word Origin for deva

C19: from Sanskrit: god

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 deva

"god, good spirit" in Hindu religion, from Sanskrit deva "a god," originally "a shining one," from *div- "to shine," thus cognate with Greek dios "divine" and Zeus, and Latin deus "god" (Old Latin deivos); see Zeus.

Fem. form devi is used for "goddess," also (with capital D-) for the mother goddess in Hinduism. Hence, also, devadasi "temple dancing girl," literally "female servant of a god," from dasi "slave girl." Also Devanagari, the formal alphabet of Sanskrit writings, perhaps originally "divine city script," from nagara "city."