Meanings
plural cosmocrators
- lifestyleA ruler of the entire world or cosmos.
In addition to the Demiurge, they also speak of a Cosmocrator (ruler of the world) and of evil spirits.
2020, Ferdinand Christian Baur, Christian Gnosis, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN4 more examples
Cosmocrator — in Valentinian gnosticism, Cosmocrator is ruler of the material cosmos in the guise of Diabolos (the devil). His consort is Barbelo and together "they sing praises to the Powers of the Light," which would indicate that Cosmocrator is not wholly evil.
1967, Gustav Davidson, Dictionary of Angels, The Free Press, →ISBN, page 89In the same vein, according to the Jewish lists of ten cosmocrators the tenth and last king will be God himself.
1972, Israel Oriental Studies, volume 2, Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University., page 171It is the confluence of Old Testament and Hellenistic terminology that makes him more than a mere cultic hero or lord; he is cosmocrator, lord of the cosmos, for the powers in v. 10 are cosmic powers.
2004, Jack T. Sanders, The New Testament Christological Hymns, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 68Pursuing the same project with the same ontological purpose, Proclus will later admit the seven cosmocrators as the seven planets into his Neoplatonist scheme. "The planets are called 'cosmocrators'" but they are no longer rebellious aeons fragmenting the pleroma through their ignorance.
2015, Revd Allen Brent, The Imperial Cult and the Development of Church Order, Brill, →ISBN, page 293Synonyms: cosmocrat
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA ruler of the entire world or cosmos.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκοσμοκράτωρ“cosmocrator”
- Englishcosmocrator
Unadapted borrowing from Ancient Greek κοσμοκράτωρ (kosmokrátōr, “cosmocrator”), from κόσμος (kósmos, “universe”) + κράτωρ (krátōr, “ruler”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cosmocrator. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cosmocrator
“cosmocrator.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cosmocrator. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cosmocrator,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cosmocrator.
Source: cosmocrator on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.