Editing Demigod (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Robert Wilhelm Ekman - Väinämöinen’s Play.jpg|thumb|[[Väinämöinen]], the central character in [[Finland|Finnish]] [[folklore]] and the main character in the [[national epic]] ''[[Kalevala]]'' by [[Elias Lönnrot]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Siikala|first1=Anna-Leena|title=Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia|publisher=Finnish Literature Society|year=2013|isbn=978-952-222-393-7}}</ref> is an old and wise demigod, who possesses a potent, magical singing voice.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Siikala |first1=Anna-Leena |title=Väinämöinen |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/5435 |website=Kansallisbiografia |access-date=29 July 2020 |date=30 July 2007 |archive-date=26 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126102812/https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/5435 |url-status=live }}</ref> Picture of the ''Väinämöinen's Play'' by [[Robert Wilhelm Ekman]], 1866.]]
The [[English language|English]] term "[[wiktionary:demi-|demi-]]<nowiki/>god" is a [[calque]] of the [[Latin language|Latin]] word {{Lang|la|semideus}}, "half-god".<ref name="OED">{{cite book|title= [[Oxford English Dictionary]]|year= 1961|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|location= UK|volume= 3|page= 180}}</ref> The Roman poet [[Ovid]] probably [[Derivation (linguistics)|coined]] ''semideus'' to refer to less important gods, such as [[dryad]]s.<ref name="Weinstock">
{{cite book
| last1= Weinstock
| first1= Stefan
| title= Divus Julius
| url= https://archive.org/details/divusjulius00wein
| url-access= limited
| date= 1971
| publisher= Clarendon Press
| location= Oxford
| isbn= 0198142870|page= [https://archive.org/details/divusjulius00wein/page/n57 53]
| edition= Reprinted
| quote = [...] 'semideus' [...] seems to have been coined by Ovid.
}}
</ref>
Compare the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''hemitheos''. The term demigod first appeared in English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, when it was used to render the Greek and Roman concepts of {{lang|la|semideus}} and daemon.<ref name="OED" /> Since then, it has frequently been applied figuratively to people of extraordinary ability.<ref name="Collins">{{cite web |title=demigod |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/demigod |access-date=2 August 2013 |website=Collins English Dictionary |publisher=Collins |archive-date=11 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711204633/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/demigod |url-status=live }}</ref>