Daemonolatria

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The worship or propitiation of demons, devils, or malevolent spirits as though they were divine beings deserving reverence
2. Devotion paid to demonic entities or evil spirits, often through rituals intended to appease or gain favor from them
3. The religious veneration of demons, a practice in which malevolent supernatural beings are honored with offerings and rites

Etymology: Daemonolatria was coined in the 1600s as a learned term for the worship of demons, and its history is one of compounding rather than of any single ancient text. It combines "daemon," from Greek "daimōn," meaning a spirit or divinity that was neither clearly good nor evil, with "latreia," the Greek word for worship or service, which gives the English "-latry" suffix seen in words like idolatry. The "-latry" element was used in English and Latin scholarship to name the devotion paid to a particular object or being, and "daemonolatria" follows that pattern directly. The term's most famous use came in 1595, when the Scottish demonologist Nicholas Rémy's Latin work was echoed in English by writers such as the Scottish king James VI, whose "Daemonologie" appeared in 1597 and dealt with witchcraft and the worship of demons. The word itself is a learned construction, so the classical roots do not reflect ancient Greek usage of the compound.

Synonyms: demonolatry