The Almighty and Omni-

Posted by Bob on May 12, 2002

In Reply to: The Almighty and Omni- posted by TheFallen on May 12, 2002

: : : This came up while chatting the other evening. God (Who's tended to have *excellent* PR representation throughout the ages) is allegedly all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), all over the place (omnipresent) and all-seeing (omni...erm)

: : : Can anyone fill in the blank with a Latin-derived omni- construct? I toyed in desperation with omnivideant, but don't believe it exists.

: : No, but it almost does. OED has a section on "omni-" compounds, including these:
: : Omnipercipient, perceiving all things.
: : Omnispective, looking into or beholding all things.
: : Omnividence, the capacity of seeing all things.
: : Omnividency, a seeing of all things; 'universal inspection'.
: : Omnivision, the action or faculty of seeing all things; omnividence.

: Thank you... from that one can happily deduce "omnivident", which I really should have had a better stab at.

But seeing all is a mere subset of knowing all. You can ask a camera questions, but it just doesn't get it. And, frankly, once God has wrapped up Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent, that's enough. She should quit bragging.

• The Almighty and Omni- ESC 05/13/02