Word.ws English Dictionary

Theotokos

/θiːˈɒtəˌkɒs/

Theotokos proper noun: synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, in particular reference to her role giving birth to God.

Proper noun

(the) Theotokos

  1. (chiefly Orthodoxy) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, in particular reference to her role giving birth to God.
    • It is then an integral portion of the Faith fixed by Ecumenical Council, a portion of it which you hold as well as I, that the Blessed Virgin is Theotocos, Deipara, or Mother of God; and this word, when thus used, carries with it no admixture of rhetoric, no taint of extravagant affection,—it has...1866, John Henry Newman, D.D., A Letter to the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. on His Recent Eirenicon, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, page 66
    Synonyms:
    Deipara, Mother of God, Mary, mother of Jesus, in particular reference to her role giving birth to God

Theotokos meaning in Arabic

Theotokos in Arabic

Mary, mother of Jesus, as God-bearer — see also Mary, Mother of God Note: Only titles directly borrowed from the Greek or that literally mean "God-bearer" should go here. Translations that simply mean in the language in question should go at that entry.
والدة الإله Wālidatu l-ʔIlāhi, ام الاله ʔUmmu l-ʔIlāhi

Synonyms of Theotokos

All synonyms of Theotokos

Forms of Theotokos

alternative formTheotocos

Origin of Theotokos

Borrowed from Koine Greek Θεοτόκος (Theotókos, “the God-bearer”), from Ancient Greek Θεός (Theós, “God”) + τόκος (tókos, “childbirth”). First attested in 3rd–4th century. Cf. Christotokos.

Words formed from Theotokos

Questions about Theotokos

What does Theotokos mean?
Theotokos means synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, in particular reference to her role giving birth to God.
What is Theotokos in Arabic?
Theotokos in Arabic is والدة الإله (Wālidatu l-ʔIlāhi), ام الاله (ʔUmmu l-ʔIlāhi). See Theotokos meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is Theotokos?
Theotokos is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Theotokos?
Theotokos is pronounced /θiːˈɒtəˌkɒs/.

Words near Theotokos in the dictionary

  1. theothanatology
  2. theotherapy
  3. Theotocos
  4. theotokia
  5. theotokion
  6. Theotokos
  7. theow
  8. theowdom
  9. theowman
  10. theowmen
  11. theows

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Theotokos (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Theotokos.wav.

Cite this entry: “Theotokos.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/theotokos. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.