Word journey
The word Zeus
the bright sky and its god; from the same root, deus, divine and Tyr (Tuesday)
The journey
| Form | Language | Date | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| *dyḗws | Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed) · Proto-Indo-European Religion | undated | daylight sky; the Sky Father (*dyeu ph2ter); reconstructed |
| *deywós | Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed) · Proto-Indo-European Religion | undated | celestial one, a god; reconstructed derivative of *dyews |
| Dyáuṣ (Pitā) | Vedic Sanskrit · Historical Vedic Religion | 1,200 BCE | sky; Father Sky (Rigveda) |
| di-we / di-wo | Mycenaean Greek · Ancient Greek Religion | 1,300 BCE | Zeus (dative and genitive, Linear B) |
| Zeús | Ancient Greek · Ancient Greek Religion | 700 BCE | king of the gods, sky and weather |
| Iuppiter | Latin · Ancient Roman Religion | 300 BCE | "Father Jove", chief god (from Proto-Italic *djous pater) |
| deus / dīvus | Latin · Ancient Roman Religion | 200 BCE | a god; dīvīnus, "of a god" |
| divine | Middle English · Christianity | 1325 CE | of or from a god (via Old French divin) |
| *Tīwaz | Proto-Germanic (reconstructed) | undated | a god; title of a war and assembly god; reconstructed |
| Týr | Old Norse · Norse / Germanic Paganism | 1220 CE | the one-handed god; týr also "a god" in poetry |
What is certain and what is not
One of the best-established reconstructions in Indo-European studies, though the homeland placement is debated and the Vedic and Avestan dates rest on oral composition. Whether Germanic *Tiwaz was ever a sky god, or only "a god" applied as a title, is disputed.