Egyptian deity
- noun
:
deidad egipcia
- You worship Horus and other Egyptian deities, whereas I worship God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and my ultimate goal is my transformation through communion with God.
Examples
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Osiris is one of the most important Egyptian deities worshipped for his role in the afterlife.
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3,500 years ago, the cult boats of Egyptian deities were carried along the streets of this city.
Academic text (2002) -
Ra, for instance, a supreme Egyptian deity, expressed himself through a golden disk atop a falcon's head.
Fiction book (1997) -
Mut's central position in the pantheon of Egyptian deities and her variable identity contributed to the longevity of her cult.
Academic text (2006) -
Given that the houses date to a period of transition from paganism to Christianity, it is tempting to think that the houses' inhabitants were hedging their bets and that one niche contained an image of an Egyptian deity, and the other a Christian one.
Academic text (2008) -
Ra, the Egyptian deity of the sun, was believed to travel across the sky in a golden chariot.
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Many ancient Egyptians offered sacrifices to different Egyptian deities to seek their favor and protection.
Synonyms
62
7.4
A god or goddess that people worship and think has power over part of the world
A god or powerful spirit from ancient Egypt
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'Egyptian' specifies origin/culture and 'deity' means a god or goddess, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'a god or goddess worshipped in Egypt.' There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift and the construction is cross-linguistically transparent, so it should be clear to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase Egyptian deity comes from the many statues and pictures of gods in ancient Egypt that people saw in temples. Seeing those gods with animal heads and human bodies made Egyptian + deity paint a clear picture, so it means 'a god or goddess worshipped by the ancient Egyptians'.