Dictionary

eudaimon en · NOUN

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn). By surface analysis, eu- + daimon.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of eudaemon.
   alt of eudaemon
   • In Heathen days it was fancied that an Eudaimon or healing spirit lingered at the spot, and this idea was not confined to peasants or the illiterate, but it was fostered and stirred to active life by the wise men of the day. 1882, Matthew Charteris, ““Health Resorts at Home and Abroad.””, in Joseph Coats, editor, The Glasgow Medical Journal, volume XVII, Glasgow: Alex. Macdougall, […]. London: H. K. Lewis, […], page 269:
   • In the Egyptian, Grecian, and, above all, the Roman theogonies it is not always easily discernible whether the ‘spirits’ to which men appeal for help or success in their enterprises are good or evil, and Iamblichus and Porphyry exhibit a diverting confusion between angels and demons, good and evil spirits, eudaimons and kakodaimons. 1931, Grillot de Givry, translated by J. Courtenay Locke, “The World of Shadows as Rival of the World of Light”, in Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy, London; Bombay; Sydney: George G. Harrap & Company Limited, booK I (Sorcerers), page 22:
   • “Ah, well, there are eudaimons, benevolent spirits, but in most cases these are thought to be guardian angels.” 2008, Larissa Ione, Pleasure Unbound (Demonica), New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Forever, →ISBN, page 178:
   • Eudaimons are considered excellent guides and counselors. Some who have created them say they hear whispers in their ear from them, giving them guidance as to what to do or say in any given situation. 2015, Baal Kadmon, The Daemonic Companion: Creating Daemonic Entities To Do Your Will, →ISBN:
   • Hesse refers, quite obviously, to his analysis and his self realisation, and one is reminded here also of his letters from Tübingen concerning the well disposed eudaimon and the ‘little man’ of his childhood. 1977, Rix Weaver, Spinning on a Dream Thread: Hermann Hesse, His Life and Work, and His Contact with C. G. Jung, Wyvern Publications for the Analytical Psychology Club of Perth, →ISBN, page 28:
   • In these days we ascribe the virtues of those wells, simply to the internal and external use of water; at least, the majority among us no longer believes, that such wells are efficacious because they are holy, although this was the ordinary creed of our ancestors, and not only of unprofessional people, for philosophers, like Van Helmont, expressed their belief in the presence of an Eudaimon, or benevolent spirit, in healing waters. 1871, John Macpherson, Our Baths and Wells: The Mineral Waters of the British Islands, with a List of Sea Bathing Places, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., page 44:
   • An^([sic]) eudaimon practitioner trains himself to consciously choose to be courageous, not ruled by fears, distractions, or discouragements and is able to consistently make wise decisions regardless of the circumstances. 2014, Guy Scholz, Claudia Church, The Masterpiece Within: Five Key Life Skills To Becoming A Living Work Of Art, Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press, →ISBN, page 236:
   • There were eudaimons, beneficial spirits, and kakodaimons, malicious spirits. If one were accompanied by a eudaimon, a sort of guardian angel, then one’s life would go well; […] 2013, Bill Meacham, “Posing the Question”, in How To Be An Excellent Human: Mysticism, Evolutionary Psychology and the Good Life, Austin, Tex.: Earth Harmony, →ISBN, page 5:
   • For meanwhile the Church had decided that all the classic influences, Eudaimons or Good Spirits as well as Kakodaimons or Bad Spirits were devils. 1900 February, J. M. Campbell, “Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom. […] Witchcraft and Magic.”, in Richard Carnac Temple, editor, The Indian Antiquary, a Journal of Oriental Research […], volume XXIX, Bombay: […] [T]he Education Society’s Press, Byculla. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., page 55:
   • My mother could not believe our luck. She was convinced an^([sic]) eudaimon had guided us to that location. 2022, Shifra Steinberg, Imaginary Order, London: Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:
   • This is precisely what Aristotle must say, given his account of change in Physics and elsewhere: it is possible for Dasein to become a Eudaimon because Dasein already is a eudaimon potentially. 2012, J. Jeremy Wisnewski, “Heidegger’s Aristotelian Ethics”, in Mark Sanders, J. Jeremy Wisnewski, editors, Ethics and Phenomenology, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 69:
   • Greek daimons could separated^([sic]) into the good spirits called eudaimons while their evil counterparts were the kakodaimons. [2021, History of Monsters & Mythical Beasts, Bath: Future plc, page 85, column 1:

Forms