/ˈdiːmənaɪz/
[verb] To portray a person, group, or idea as evil, dangerous, or morally bad, often in an unfair or exaggerated way. When someone is demonised, others are encouraged to fear or hate them.
The word 'demon' itself was once morally neutral — in ancient Greek, a daimon was simply a guiding spirit, not an evil creature.
The story of 'demonise' begins far from any notion of evil. In ancient Greek, the word *daimōn* referred to a spirit or divine power that existed somewhere between gods and humans. It was not a creature of darkness — it was a supernatural guide, a force that shaped a person's fate or whispered wisdom into their mind. The philosopher Socrates famously spoke of his own *daimōn*, an inner voice that guided his decisions. This was a concept of spiritual assistance, not malice.
When early Christian writers began translating Greek texts into Latin, they faced a problem. The Greek world was full of these intermediate spirits — beings that pagan cultures worshipped or respected. The Church needed to distinguish the one true God from all other supernatural forces, and so the *daimōn* was recast. The Latin word *daemonium*, borrowed directly from Greek *daimonion*, was used to describe pagan spirits, and these were increasingly portrayed as fallen, evil beings working against God. From *daemonium* came the Late Latin *daemon*, and with it the word began its long slide toward darkness.
Old French carried the word forward as *demon*, and from there it entered Middle English in the 13th century as *demon* or *dæmon*, now firmly meaning an evil spirit or devil. By the time English-speaking people used the word freely, no trace of Socrates' gentle inner guide remained. The word had been completely transformed by centuries of religious reinterpretation. To be associated with a demon was to be associated with Hell itself.
The verb 'demonise' — meaning to portray someone or something as demonic or evil — is a much later creation. It emerged in the 19th century, built from *demon* and the common English verbal suffix *-ise* (from Greek *-izein* via Latin *-izare* and French *-iser*). This suffix was highly productive in English, creating verbs of action from nouns. Just as 'colonise' meant to make into a colony, 'demonise' meant to make into a demon — or, more precisely, to treat something as though it were one.
What makes 'demonise' so interesting today is how thoroughly political and social language has adopted it. We rarely use it in a literal theological sense. Instead, journalists, historians, and commentators use it to describe the act of deliberately painting a rival, a minority group, or an opposing ideology as wholly wicked and beyond reason. The word carries the weight of propaganda and prejudice within it, reminding us that the act of labelling something 'demonic' has always been a tool of power — one that turns a complex reality into a simple, frightening enemy. The ancient Greek daimon, once a source of personal wisdom, has become a weapon of public rhetoric.