demigod

• demi-god

From demi- +‎ god. Calque of the Latin semideus (“half-god”), which is probably a coining by the Roman poet Ovid for less important gods such as dryads.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛmiɡɒd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛmiɡɑd/

• Audio (US):

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demigod (plural demigods)

1. (mythology) A half-god or hero; the offspring of a deity and a mortal.
2. Someone held up for reverence as a supreme example.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Different Views of Youth and Age”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 99:

     "Ah! he is one of your idols, I suppose," said Lord Norbourne, with a slight approach to a sneer. "Youth is prone to admire; but it is odd how, in a few years, we discover the defects of our demigods...

   • 2013, The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy:

     He finds, not “demigods” but “ a combative group of exhausted, drunken, broken, petty, partisan, scheming, squabbling, bloviating, sensory-deprived, underoxygenated, fed-up, talked-out, overheated delegates so distraught they threatened violence, secession.

• (offspring of a deity and a mortal): half-god, hero
• (someone held up in reverence): icon, idol

• Megiddo