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dio

god

noun DEE-oh Rare

Origin: Latin deus

Usage Note

Dio (capitalised) refers to God in the monotheistic sense; lowercase dio means a deity or god in a polytheistic context. The plural is highly irregular: il diogli dei (the gods). The exclamation mio Dio! (my God!) is very common in everyday speech. Diavolo (devil) is its traditional opposite.

Examples

"Gli antichi romani veneravano molti dei."

Natural Translation

The ancient Romans venerated many gods.

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