Demiourgos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A creator or artisan, particularly one who shapes the physical world or the cosmos
2. An individual who plays a god-like role in bringing forth existence and order from chaos
3. Referring to a figure in philosophy or mythology who is responsible for the formation and crafting of the universe

Etymology: The Greek "dēmiourgos" literally meant "one who works for the people," from "dēmos" (people, district) and "ergon" (work). In its earliest uses it described an ordinary skilled craftsman or public official, not a god. Its sense widened when Plato, in the "Timaeus," applied it to the figure who shapes the visible universe out of pre-existing matter, and later Platonists and Gnostic writers turned it into a name for a lesser deity who fashioned the material world. English took the word in its Latinized form "demiurge," and the Greek spelling "demiourgos" survives in philosophical and theological writing as a more technical form. The shift from a humble tradesman to a cosmic maker is the centrepiece of the word's history: the same root that gave a craftsman's job title was stretched to cover the act of creating reality itself.