momentary god en · NOUN
Etymology
Calque of German Augenblicksgott, coined by Hermann Usener in his Götternamen in 1896.
Meanings
-
A specific phenomenon, such as a lightning bolt, interpreted and experienced as a deity.
Concentrating his attention on the conception of lightning, Usener discovers a transition in the way lightning is conceived: initially experienced as an exclamation in response to a "momentary god"—Zeus originally meant "he who thunders"—[…]
2018 August 6, Karen Lang, Chaos and Cosmos: On the Image in Aesthetics and Art History, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 96:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| momentary gods | Number=Plur | lexicographic |