demiurge

[ dem-ee-urj ]

noun

1. Philosophy.
   1. Platonism. the artificer of the world.
   2. (in the Gnostic and certain other belief systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.
2. (in many states of ancient Greece) a public official or magistrate.

demiurge

/ ˈdiː-; ˈdɛmɪˌɜːdʒ /

noun

1. 1. (in the philosophy of Plato) the creator of the universe
   2. (in Gnostic and some other philosophies) the creator of the universe, supernatural but subordinate to the Supreme Being
2. (in ancient Greece) a magistrate with varying powers found in any of several states

Derived Forms

• ˌdemiˈurgeous, adjective
• ˌdemiˈurgically, adverb

Other Words From

• dem·i·ur·geous [dem-ee-, ur, -j, uh, s], dem·i·ur·gic dem·i·ur·gi·cal adjective
• dem·i·ur·gi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of demiurge¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Greek dēmiourgós “a worker for the people, public worker, skilled worker,” equivalent to dḗmio(s) “of the people, public” + -ergos “a worker,” derivative of érgon work ( none )

Word History and Origins

Origin of demiurge¹

C17: from Church Latin dēmiūrgus, from Greek dēmiourgos skilled workman, literally: one who works for the people, from dēmos people + ergon work

Example Sentences

It portrays the country’s leader as a human being instead of a grand demiurge, responsible for its future.

From New York Times

How can we know that we are not being systematically deceived by some demonic demiurge?

From Literature

An hour with Sugar Plum Gary addresses both kinds of existentialism in a phantasmagoric dive — with Q&A! — through his richly frightening cosmos where Santa is something like a malevolent demiurge.

From Seattle Times

Edward Steichen’s dramatically moody photographs of Rodin’s masterpiece, his strangely leaning monument to the novelist Honoré de Balzac, emphasize the sculptor’s influential vision of Balzac as a self-creating demiurge.

From New York Times

But it lacks neither that nor the dramatic irony of Liston’s collapse: in effect, prostration to a demiurge of history on the turn.

From The New Yorker