Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Hinduism Any of a group of deities that are endowed with great power and in later tradition are considered to represent aspects of the Godhead.
- noun Buddhism Any of large, heterogeneous group of supernatural beings, including the deities that guard the four cardinal points and other inhabitants of planes of existence transcending the world of humans. Devas are not immortal, although they may have lifespans lasting billions of years and be exempt from human ills such as hunger and pain.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
god in Vedic mythology,Hinduism andBuddhism .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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There can be no doubt however, that the word deva is here used for implying the senses.
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 Kisari Mohan [Translator] Ganguli
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The same word deva is the Latin deus, thus pointing to that common source of language and religion, far beyond the heights of the
Chips From A German Workshop - Volume I Essays on the Science of Religion 1861
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Devanagari is a compound word with two roots: deva, meaning "deity," and nagari, meaning "city."
Lightly Toasted 2010
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We will always have scandals, we should always have due process. deva, california
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Worst job was McDonalds when I was a teen, I left after two months I couldnt take it. deva
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And I suppose I'm technically "writing" our new D&D campaign, in which Gwenda plays a purple quasi-immortal shaman who is quite literally a deva.
One Day In April 2009
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And I suppose I'm technically "writing" our new D&D campaign, in which Gwenda plays a purple quasi-immortal shaman who is quite literally a deva.
April 2009 2009
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Now I am sitting back in the same apartment struggling with a tad bit of deva ju, thankful for a incredibly painful broken leg weeelllllll.... and everything God taught me in the last year about surrending who I want to be to be the person he created me to be.
Archive 2009-09-01 ElonGradBlogger 2009
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Now I am sitting back in the same apartment struggling with a tad bit of deva ju, thankful for a incredibly painful broken leg weeelllllll.... and everything God taught me in the last year about surrending who I want to be to be the person he created me to be.
Аз съм Доброволка!!! Ами.... ПАК!! ElonGradBlogger 2009
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Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles Vighnesha, Vighneshvara, patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.
The Gods in Sita Sings the Blues | Spontaneous ∂erivation 2009
treeseed commented on the word deva
Also Deva
A Deva in the New Age movement refers to any of supposed the spiritual forces or beings behind nature. According to Theosophists like Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, Devas represent a separate evolution to that of humanity. The concept of Devas as nature-spirits derives from the writings of the Theosophist Geoffrey Hodson
In the Findhorn material, the term refers to archetypal spiritual intelligences behind species, in other words the group soul of a species. But elsewhere the term is used to designate any elemental or nature spirit, the equivalent of fairies.
_Wikipedia
January 29, 2008