"Dwayne C . Litzenberger" wrote: > > On Tue, Jan 25, 2000 at 04:47:13PM -0000, Pollywog wrote: > > > > On 25-Jan-2000 Brian J. Stults wrote: > > > Silly, but... How do you pronounce "daemon"? I thought it was > > > pronounced "day-mun", but an online dictionary I checked said it had the > > > same pronunciation as "demon". > > > > I pronounce it "demon" but I have heard a few people pronounce it "day-mun". > > Since they also say "Lie-nucks", I went with "demon". :) > > (Somewhat OT, but may be of interest:) It should be day-mon to distinguish it from demon - the original word is Ancient Greek. A daemon was what we would describe as a supernatural being, and could bring good or bad misfortune/luck to a person. Some daimons watched over/guarded human beings (the origin of the much later idea of guardian angel), their homes and families, as some were associated with particular, often sacred, places. In Greek literature, a person is often said to have a lucky or an unlucky daimon. The Sphinx of ancient Greek legend was a hostile daemon.
Demon is a much later word, associated with Christian theology.