divus

divus

The adjectivedivus, feminine diva, is usually translated as "divine." As a substantive, divus refers to a "deified" or divinized mortal. Both deus and divus derive from Indo-European*deywos, Old Latindeivos. Servius confirms that deus is used for "perpetual deities" (deos perpetuos), but divus for people who become divine (divos ex hominibus factos = gods who once were men). While this distinction is useful in considering the theological foundations of Imperial cult, it sometimes vanishes in practice, particularly in Latin poetry; Virgil, for instance, mostly uses deus and divus interchangeably. Varro and Ateius, however, maintained that the definitions should be reversed.