Zictionary™
DISCLAIMER:
My dictionary is not original, exhaustive or authoritative. I borrow so extensively from other dictionaries that I generally fail to give proper credit to my sources. The purpose of the dictionary is to give meaning to words that I use in my philosophical writings, audios, videos, BLOGs and VLOGs. While I make every effort to provide accurate definitions and commentary, I do not claim to be credentialed as an etymologist or philologist; I have an amateur level of interest and expertise.
"The liar uses the valid designations, the words, to make the unreal appear real."
~Friedrich Nietzsche, On Truth and Lie
a- or an-
pref. Without; not: amoral.
[Greek; see ne in Indo-European roots.]
an·i·ma, (ān'ə-mə)
n.
1. The soul.
2. Literal Life, breath.
[Latin anima (cf. Greek animos wind, Goth uzanan to exhale, Sanskrit aniti breaths), from Proto-Indo-European root *anə- to blow, to breath.]
a·the·ist (ā'thē-ĭst)
n.
1. A person without belief in the existance of Deity or deities.
2. Archaic A person without a deity.
[From French athéiste (16c.), from Greek atheos, from a- "without" + the(os) " a deity" + -ist "a person".]
Ancient Greeks believed that a person needed the blessings of a patron deity to get through life. They also believed that when the body was buried the soul went to the underworld where it was ruled for an eternity by Hades. To escape eternal life in the underworld and to live in the sky a person's soul needed to be claimed by a patron deity. Any person without a patron deity was atheos.
Historically, the existence of Deity or deities was not questioned and an atheist was a person who was out of favor with the Deity or deities. While the compound of the word itself does not include an element of belief in the existance of or the favor of, modern users of the word associate it with disbelief rather than disfavor.
Also, modern users of the word translate theo to God or gods. Theo is more correctly translated to deity.
at·man (ät'mən)
n. also at·ma
1. The soul.
2. Hindu The individual self.
3. Literal A living (breathing) being.
[Sanskrit ātman breath, self.]
fractal wrongness
The state of being wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. That is, from a distance, a fractally wrong person's worldview is incorrect; and furthermore, if you zoom in on any small part of that person's worldview, that part is just as wrong as the whole worldview.
Debating with a person who is fractally wrong leads to infinite regress, as every refutation you make of that person's opinions will lead to a rejoinder, full of half-truths, leaps of logic, and outright lies, that requires just as much refutation to debunk as the first one. It is as impossible to convince a fractally wrong person of anything as it is to walk around the edge of the Mandelbrot set in finite time.
If you ever get embroiled in a discussion with a fractally wrong person on the Internet--in mailing lists, newsgroups, or website forums--your best bet is to say your piece once and ignore any replies, thus saving yourself time.
fractal wrongness. Lexicon of Computing. Keunwoo Lee. http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/klee/misc/lexicon.html (accessed: February, 26, 2008).
god (gŏd)
n. plural gods
1. God
a. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.
b. The force, effect, or a manifestation or aspect of this being.
c. The Deity
2.
a. A male being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people, thought to control some part of nature or reality.
b. An image of such a supernatural being; an idol.
c. A male deity.
3. A strong man, leader or chief.
4. A very handsome man.
5. Archaic That which is invoked; especially the non-Trinitarian “only begotten” of the Father.
6. Metaphor One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed: Money was their god.
7. Feminine goddess
[Middle English, from Old English, from Proto-Germanic *guthan (Dutch god, Germanic Gott, Old Norse guð, Gothic guþ), from Proto-Indo-European *ghut- that which is invoked (early Goth translation from Greek theo(s) deity, translated from Hebrew El(ohim)); see gheu(ə)- to call, invoke in Proto-Indo-European roots.]
hell (hěl)
n.
1. Christian mythology
a. Most often Hell The abode of condemned souls;
a place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death.
b. Less often A state of separation from God; exclusion from God's presence.
2. Metaphorical A situation or place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction: "War is hell" (William Tecumseh Sherman).
3. The abode of the dead, identified with the Hebrew Sheol, the Greek Hades and the Norse Hel; the underworld.
4. Archaic A grave; the place where the corpse is concealed, usually in the earth or sea.
-ist
suff.
1.
a. A person that performs a specified action: lobbyist.
b. A person that produces, makes, operates, plays, or is connected with a specified thing: novelist.
2. A specialist in a specified art, science, or skill: biologist.
3. An adherent or advocate of a specified doctrine, theory, or school of thought: anarchist.
4. A person that is characterized by a specified trait or quality: romanticist.
[Middle English -iste, from Old French, from Latin -istēs, -ista, from Greek -istēs, agent n. suff.]
Jupiter (Roman mythology) Also called Jove, the supreme deity of the ancient Romans, ruler of the sky and weather.
ne·phesh (neh'·fesh)
n.
1. The soul.
2. Literal That which breaths, a living (breathing) being (creature); an animal.
[Hebrew, from Aramaic root *naphash to take breath.]
pneu·ma (nōō'mə)
n.
1. The soul or spirit.
2. Literal Wind, breath.
[Greek, from Proto-Indo-European root *pneu-.]
pra·na (prä'nə)
n.
1. The spirit.
2. Hindu Breath of life.
3. Literal Breath.
[Sanskrit prāṇabreath.]
psy·che (sī'kē)
n. also psych
1. The spirit or soul.
2. Psychiatry The mind functioning as the center of thought, emotion, and behavior and consciously or unconsciously adjusting or mediating the body's responses to the social and physical environment.
[Latin, from Greek psūkhē soul, from Proto-Indo-European root *bhes-.]
Psyche
Greek Mythology A young woman who loved and was loved by Eros and was united with him after Aphrodite's jealousy was overcome. She subsequently became the personification of the soul.
ruw·ach(rü'·akh)
n.
1. The spirit.
2. Literal Wind, breath.
[Hebrew, from Aramaic root *ruwach smell.]
soul (sōl)
n.
1. The vital principle or animating force within living human beings credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion conceived of as an immaterial entity and considered as departing from the body of a person at death.
2. The spirit.
[Middle English, from Old English sāwol (cf. Goth saiwala), from Proto-Germanic *saiwalo coming from or belonging to the sea, because that was believed to be the place from which our immaterial self came before birth and went after death, from Proto-Germanic *saiwaz sea; translates to Greek psyche>, Latin anima, Hebrew nephesh, and Sanskrit atma.]
spir·it (spĭr'ĭt)
n.
1. The vital principle or animating force within living human beings credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion conceived of as an immaterial entity and considered as departing from the body of a person at death.
2. The soul.
3. A fairy or sprite.
4. Literal Breath.
[Middle English, from Old French espirit, from Latin spīritus breath, related to spīrāre to breathe, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peis- to blow; translates to Greek pneuma, Hebrew ruah, Goth ahma, and Sanskrit prāna.]
The·a (thē'ə)
n.
1. A female given name.
2. Greek Mythology the Titaness who was mother of Helios and Selene and Eos in ancient mythology.
[From Greek, fem. equivalent of theos "deity"; see dhēs- in Proto-Indo-European roots.]
the·os (thē'ōs) (Greek θεός)
n. pref. theo- or the-, masc. the·o, fem. the·a, sing./indiv. the·o·i
1.
a. A deity or deities; identified with the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, and the Norse Tyr; also see the Greek Thea.
b. Deity; identified with the Hebrew Elohim, the Latin Deus and the English God.
2.
a. theo- prefix or combined form, of or pertaining to "deity".
b. the- variant of theo-, especially before a vowel.
[Greek; see dhēs- in Proto-Indo-European roots.]
Theos is part of a family of related words descending from the Proto-Indo-European language. These words focus on the element of visualization, i.e. "seen", "seen shinning", and "seen shining in the sky". On first examination words like theos and theology appear to be linked by their relationship to deity. But, an apparently unrelated word, theory, has the same prefix. The similarity is that a theory places and object or idea within view of the examiner.
In Greek mythology, the Pantheon combined all of the supernatural rulers who inhabited the sky. They were visualized as lights in the sky; the sun, the moon, some of the planets and the stars. They were also observers of human activity. Sometimes the Theos involved themselves in human affairs and even parented human offspring with supernatural attributes.
In Hebrew mythology, the Elohyim were a similar collection of supernatural rulers with similar attributes. The Greek translation of the Bible translated the Hebrew words Elohyim, Eloah and El to the Greek word Theos.
Tues·day (tōōz'dē, -dā', tyōōz'-)
n. Abbr. Tues. or Tue. or Tu or T
Third day of the week.
[Middle English Tuesdai, from Old English Tīwesdæg, Tiu's day: Tīwes, genitive of Tīw Tiu; see Tiu + dæg day (translation of Latin diēs Mārtis Mars' day); also Old Norse Týsdagr, Old High German Zīestac.]
Tyr (tîr)
Norse Mythology Originally regarded as the supreme deity of the ancient Proto-Germanic people and ruler of the sky; identified with Anglo-Saxon Tiu. Later, a son of Odin.
[Old Norse Týr deity (pl. tívar deities), Old Norwegian Ty, Old Swedish Ti, Týr in Modern Icelandic and Faroese; see dyeu- in Proto-Indo-European roots.]
Tyr was originally the supreme deity of the ancient Proto-Germanic people and the ruler of the sky. He was responsible for war and strife and was the father of a number of other deities.
Later, he was subordinated to Odin and regarded as a son of Odin. His role in Norse pantheon was that of judge.
In his original role, he was virtually identical with the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter, although he was later associated with the Roman Mars.
Tuesday is Tiu's Day in honor of Tyr (Tiu), the Latin expression is dies Martis, Mars' Day.
Zeus (Greek mythology) the supreme deity of the ancient Greeks, a son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon, and father of a number of deities and mortal heroes, ruler of the sky.
