demon
nounnounnouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈdiː.mən//
An evil supernatural being. An evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
noun
- 1
An evil supernatural being. An evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
- 2
historicalAn evil supernatural being. A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity.
- 3
figurativeAn evil supernatural being. A very wicked or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child.
- 4
An evil supernatural being. A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw.
The demon of stupidity haunts me whenever I open my mouth.
- 5
An evil supernatural being. A person's fears or anxieties.
After a short spell on an adult psychiatric ward, she decided to find her own way to deal with her demons.
- 6
A neutral supernatural being. A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse.
Oh Anthony […] Thy Dæmon that thy spirit which keepes thee, is Noble, Couragious, high vnmatchable.
“You saw her. And I picked her up,” Lyra said, blushing, because of course it was a gross violation of manners to touch something so private as someone else's dæmon.
- 7
A neutral supernatural being. A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.
- 8
A neutral supernatural being. A supernatural being not considered to be inherently evil; a (non-Christian) deity.
- 9
A neutral supernatural being. A hypothetical entity with special abilities postulated for the sake of a thought experiment in philosophy or physics.
Let the orders now be that each demon is to stop all molecules from crossing his area in either direction except 100 coming from A, arbitrarily chosen to be let pass into B, and a greater number, having among them less energy but equal momentum, to cross from B to A.
- 10
Someone with great strength, passion or skill for a particular activity, pursuit etc.; an enthusiast.
He’s a demon at the card tables.
Chelsea defended like demons to snuff out Manchester City but this was a perfectly calibrated triumph, built upon a structured attacking approach, choosing the right moments to transition, and illuminated by the smoothness of Havertz’s technique.
- 11
A type of patience or solitaire (card game) played in the UK and/or US.
‘That's much the best feeling to have.’ She dealt out the first row of ‘demon’.
- 12
Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genera Notocrypta and Udaspes.
Etymology
From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Displaced native Old English sċucca (“evil spirit”) and Old English þyrs (“ogre or monster”). Doublet of daimon.
noun
- 1
Variant of distinct electron motion particleAcronym of distinct electron motion particle: a quasiparticle, a type of massless neutral electron excitation associated with superconductivity.
Etymology
From distinct electron motion + -on.
noun
- 1
Variant of daemonAlternative spelling of daemon.
Etymology
From Maxwell's demon; a derivation from “disk and execution monitor” is generally considered a backronym.
Forms
- plural
- demons
demon · An evil supernatural being. An evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
Demon · A male given name from Ancient Greek.demonic · Pertaining to demons or evil spirits; demoniac.demonstrate · To show how to use (something).