Prefix · god · divine
Means "god": theology, theocracy, theism, theodicy, theocentric.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
Theo- comes from Greek "theos" (god) and appears in religious, philosophical, and political vocabulary. Theology = the study of God and religion; theocracy = government by divine or religious authority; theism = belief in the existence of one or more gods; theodicy = justification of God's goodness in the face of evil; theocentric = placing God at the centre of all things. Spanish equivalent "teo-": teología, teocracia, teísmo, teodicea, teocéntrico.
Theo- bridges religion and philosophy: theology is the systematic study of faith and religious belief; atheism negates theo- (a- = without); monotheism = belief in one god; polytheism = belief in many gods. The Greek root "theos" also appears in proper names: Theodora (gift of God), Theodore, and Bartholomew.
Combines with Greek roots in religious, philosophical, and political vocabulary:
Pronunciation: /θiː.oʊ/. Spanish equivalent "teo-": teología (theology), teocracia (theocracy), teísmo (theism), teodicea (theodicy), teocéntrico (theocentric). The opposite: ateísmo (atheism = a- + theo-).
theo-/θiː.oʊ/
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"Theism" (theo- = god + -ism = belief): a philosophical position holding that one or more gods exist. "Theology" (theo- = god + -logy = study): the systematic academic discipline studying the nature of God, religious belief, and doctrine. You can hold theism without studying theology, and theologians can study religion without being personally devout.
A trick to remember it
Theo- = god. Spanish equivalent "teo-": teología (theology), teocracia (theocracy), teísmo (theism). Key compounds: a- + theism = atheism, mono- + theism = monotheism, poly- + theism = polytheism, pan- + theism = pantheism.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
How does "monotheism" differ from "polytheism"?
The prefix theo- means "god": theology, theocracy, theism, theodicy, theocentric. In Spanish it usually maps to teo-.
The prefix theo- is pronounced /θiː.oʊ/. For example, "theology".
"ology" becomes "theology". It is a typical example of the theo- prefix.
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