adjectives - Proper way to adjectivize the word "deity"


Having looked it up, no dictionary I can find lists a definition for "deitous," so I was wondering if perhaps I added the the wrong suffix to "deity" to turn it into adjective? This is more of a pedantic question, but just out of curiosity, does anyone know of a word like what I'm describing?



Answer



There's no English adjective that derives directly from the noun deity, but there's an adjective that means "of or like a god" and has the same root as deity:



divine
ADJECTIVE



  1. Of or like God or a god.
    -- ‘heroes with divine powers’
    -- ‘paintings of shipwrecks being prevented by divine intervention’


Origin
Late Middle English: via Old French from Latin divinus, from divus ‘godlike’ (related to deus ‘god’).


[Oxford Dictionaries]



Compare this with the origin of deity:



1250–1300; Middle English deite < Old French < Late Latin deitāt- (stem of deitās ), equivalent to Latin dei- (combining form of deus god) + -tāt- -ty2, formed after Latin dīvīnitās divinity


[Oxford Dictionaries]



Those with an interest in etymology might enjoy this detailed chart by John Lawler showing the common roots of various words related to deity/divine.


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