Idol

Pronunciation

• enPR: īʹd(É™)l, IPA: /ˈaɪd(É™)l/
• Rhymes: -aɪdÉ™l
• Homphones: idle, idyl(l) US pronunciation

Origin

From Old French idole, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eidōlon, "image, idol"), from εἶδος (eidos, "form").

Full definition of idol

Noun

1. A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
• 1911 The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God, J. Milton Hayes:There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu, There's a little marble cross below the town; There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew, And the Yellow God forever gazes down.
2. A cultural icon, or especially popular person.

Descendants

• Japanese:

Derived terms

• idolatry
• idolise, idolize

Anagrams

• diol
• lido
• Lodi
• OLDI
• olid