Etymology

joss

J8O1S1S1

Today it means: A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol. Full definition →

Chinese Pidgin English joss ← Portuguese deus ← Latin deus
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

joss · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*deywós“god/that which belongs to heaven”
  2. Latin · derived fromdeus“god”
  3. Portuguese · derived fromdeus“god”
  4. Chinese Pidgin English · borrowed fromjoss
  5. English todayjoss

From Chinese Pidgin English joss, from Macau Pidgin Portuguese, from Portuguese deus (“god”), from Latin deus (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god/that which belongs to heaven”). Doublet of Tiw and Tyr.

Joss · proper noun, verb2

Verb usage evolved from the name of Joss Whedon, creator of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly.

Words from the same roots

Latindeus all →

deucedeistdeiparouspandeism

Proto-Indo-European*deywós all →

Tiu

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.