What does daimon mean?
A daimon is a supernatural being of ancient Greek belief, occupying a place between mortals and the Olympian gods. Far from being evil, daimones were often viewed as benevolent powers who watched over individuals, places, or events; each person might be attended by a personal daimon acting as a guardian or guide. The concept is most famously associated with Socrates, who said an inner divine sign — his daimonion — warned him when he was about to act wrongly, though it never told him what to do. Because Christianity later reinterpreted such spirits as malevolent demons, modern writers use 'daimon', preserving its original Greek form, specifically to signal this older, morally neutral meaning. Today the term survives mainly in scholarship on classical antiquity and in depth psychology, where figures like Carl Jung used it to describe an inner force that both shapes and compels a person's destiny.
nounA divinity or supernatural being of a nature between gods and humans in ancient Greek belief; more broadly, an inner spirit or guiding force believed to influence a person's character and destiny.
- In ancient Greek religion and philosophy, a supernatural being intermediate between gods and humans.
- A person's guiding spirit, genius, or inner voice regarded as shaping their character or fate.
"Socrates claimed that his daimon spoke to him only to hold him back from mistaken courses of action."
"In Plato's account, Socrates described his daimon as a divine sign that deterred him whenever he was about to err."
"She trusted the quiet promptings of her daimon, that inward voice she felt had guided every turning point of her life."
'Daimones' is preferred in classical scholarship, following the Greek plural; 'daimons' is an acceptable anglicized alternative seen in general writing.
"Greek religion populated the space between gods and mortals with countless daimones."
The word 'demon' began as 'daimon' — a guardian spirit Socrates credited with steering him away from bad decisions — until Christianity recast these beings as devils.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of daimon
The word comes directly from ancient Greek 'daimōn' (δαίμων), which originally denoted a divine power or deity — possibly connected to a root meaning 'to distribute' or 'to allot', as one who apportions destiny. It passed into Latin as 'daemon' and thence into English, where the spelling 'demon' became dominant after early Christian writers recast pagan spirits as evil. The unaltered spelling 'daimon' was revived in English scholarship to recover the pre-Christian, neutral sense. Its closest living relatives are 'demon' and its derivatives such as 'demonic' and 'pandemonium', all ultimately from the same Greek source.
Related word forms
How daimon is actually used
Retained spelling without the 'e' deliberately signals the neutral classical meaning, distinguishing it from the Christianized 'demon'. The word appears chiefly in academic writing on Greek philosophy and religion, and in Jungian psychology, where it denotes an inner driving force. The plural is usually 'daimones' in scholarly contexts, though 'daimons' also occurs.
Easily confused with daimon
While 'demon' today almost always means an evil spirit or devil, 'daimon' preserves the older, morally neutral Greek sense of a divine or guiding spirit that may be beneficent.