Deus is Latin for "god" or "deity". Latin
deus and dīvus "divine", are descended from Proto-Indo-European
*deiwos, from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the
Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Compare Greek Zeus and Sanskrit deva. In
Classical Latin, deus was a general noun referring to a deity, while in
technical usage a divus or diva was a figure who had become divine, such as a
divinized emperor. In Late Latin, Deus came to be used mostly of the Christian
God. It was inherited by the Romance languages in French dieu, Spanish dios,
Portuguese deus, Italian dio, etc.
