name · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ˈdɛmɪɜːdʒ/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/ˈdɛmɪˌɝd͡ʒ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈdɛm.i.ɜːd͡ʒ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈdiː.mi.ɜːd͡ʒ/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈdɛm.i.ɚd͡ʒ/
1
name
Meaning 1
The subordinate being that fashions the perceptible world in the light of eternal ideas.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Platonism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A prideful, inferior being that creates the material world; frequently identified with the creator God of the Hebrew Bible.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: Gnosticism, lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The (usually benevolent) being that created the universe out of primal matter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Platonic philosophy
Examples
A demiurge or craftsman god takes pre-existing matter and fashions it in light of the eternal Forms.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A (usually jealous or outright malevolent) being who is inferior to the supreme being, and sometimes seen as the creator of evil.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: Gnosticism, lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Something (such as an idea, individual or institution) conceived as an autonomous creative force or decisive power.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
The title of a magistrate in a number of states of Ancient Greece, and in the city states (poleis) of the Achaean League.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Qualifier: Ancient Greece
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
a subordinate deity, in some philosophies the creator of the universe
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: deity, divinity, god, immortal
History
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Δημιουργός (Dēmiourgós), see demiurge.
From Ancient Greek δημιουργός (dēmiourgós, “one who works for the people; a skilled workman, a handicraftsman”) (whence Latin dēmiūrgus, French démiurge), from δήμιος (dḗmios, “belonging to the people, public”) (from δῆμος (dêmos, “the people”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh2mos (“people”), from *deh2- (“to divide”) + Ancient Greek -ιος (-ios), from Proto-Indo-European *-yós (suffix creating an adjective from a noun)) + Ancient Greek -ουργός (-ourgós, “worker”) (from ἔργον (érgon, “labour; task; work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”)). No relation with English demi- (as in demigod).
Across languages
Translations
64 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
demiürg
— subordinate deity
Chinese Mandarin:
巨匠造物主
(Jùjiàng Zàowùzhǔ)
— subordinate deity
Chinese Mandarin:
迪米烏哥斯 /迪米乌哥斯
(Dímǐwūgēsī)
— subordinate deity
