Etymology

momentary god

Today it means: A specific phenomenon, such as a lightning bolt, interpreted and experienced as a deity. Full definition →

German Augenblicksgott
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. German · calque ofAugenblicksgott
  2. English todaymomentary god

Calque of German Augenblicksgott, coined by Hermann Usener in his Götternamen in 1896.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.