daemon
/ˈdiː.mən/ noun
Also a form of demon
Forms daemons daemones dæmon daimon demon
- noun (mythology) A minor deity or divinity.
- noun A muse, a personified source of inspiration, especially one that also causes anguish.
- noun An idea depicted as an entity.
- noun (computing, Unix) A process (a running program) that does not have a controlling terminal.
Synonyms
Etymology
A borrowing of Latin daemōn (“tutelary deity”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, tutelary deity”).
A reference to Maxwell's demon. The putative derivation from "disk and execution monitor" is generally considered a backronym.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “daemon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details