Di Manes (English spelling)

…In ancient Roman religion, the deified spirits of the dead. The name comes from the old Latin adjective manus (meaning "good"), and they were also called Di Manes ("good gods"). The original meaning of manes was the spirits of the dead who were thought to have a kind of divinity as a whole, as opposed to mere ghosts. Later, however, it came to refer to the spirits of family ancestors, Di Parentes, and even to the spirits of individuals, and the letters DM, an abbreviation of Dis Manibus (meaning "to the spirits of the dead"), were inscribed on tombstones. …

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Di Manes" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…古代ローマの宗教で，神格化された死者の霊。その名は古いラテン語の形容詞manus(〈善良な〉の意)から来ており，ディ･マネスDi Manes(〈善良な神々〉)とも呼ばれた。マネスの本義は，たんなる亡霊とは異なり，総体として一種の神性をもつと考えられた死者たちの霊であるが，のちには家族の祖先の霊Di Parentes，さらには個人の霊をも指すようになり，Dis Manibus(〈死者の霊に〉の意)を略したD.M.の文字が墓に刻まれた。…

※「Di Manes」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報