Origin and etymology of the word "God"

 

Origin and etymology of the word "God"

The Supreme Being in the Christian belief is the God. The present day English language word ‘God’ derives from the old English word "god" and  is  akin to Old Frisian (a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries). Old Saxon and Medieval Dutch has a variant got.  The word used in Dutch is god. In Old High German and Middle High German languages, it was got, in German it became Gott, in Gothic guth and in Old Norse goth and guth.  

Originally, this word "guth" meant ‘the (one, the being, hence the deity) invoked’.  The leading etymologist Eric Partridge in his work " Origins : A short etymological Dictionary of English" cited the work of M.O’C.Walshe "a Concise German Etymological Dictionary, 1952" and had a opinion that  the word "ghūta" has been derived from the Sanskrit word  hūta  meaning “invoked” (deity)', huta being the past participle of havate meaning "he calls upon (a god)".  This hūta is also the base for Gaelic (language native to the Gaels of Scotland) and Old Ireland guth meaning voice and Old Celtic gutus (root gut-).

In the Sanatana dharma, the Supreme Deity in his manifest form is invoked through the yajna (sacrifice).  Detailed procedures and mantras are prescribed in the Sanatana scriptures for performing the yajna.  In the yajna, through various ahutis (offerings ) of the clarified butter (ghrut) and other materials, the Deity is invoked.  The purpose is to seek prosperity and happiness for the self and the society, spiritual upliftment and the welfare of this whole universe from the deity invoked.

This system of performing yajna was a common practice in all the classical civilizations round the world.  The word hūta became synonymous to the "Supreme Being" and "the invocation of the Supreme Being".  Before the spread of Christianity and other Abrahamic religions, this entire world was practicing pluralistic, all encompassing, all accommodating polytheism.  The Brahma or the Supreme Divine was worshiped in his various manifested forms through yajnas. So it is not surprising that considering the utmost significance given by the native Sanatana Civilizations to the word "hūta", this word was also borrowed by the Christianity to describe the Supreme Being in their own religious concept.

Like the Sanatana dharma, Sanskrit is also an eternal language.  When this language originated, it is not known precisely.  Almost all the basic root words of the languages spoken across the world find their origin in the Sanskrit language.  Therefore, there should be least amount of doubt to believe that the origin of the word "God" is the Sanskrit word "hūta" meaning "the deity invoked".