A daemon, in ancient Greek belief and stories, is a spirit that sits between gods and human beings — not fully divine, not human. Some were thought of as guardian spirits, a kind of inner voice or personal guide; Socrates famously said a daemon warned him when he was about to do something wrong. Others were lesser powers who carried messages or handed out luck, good or bad.

A daemon精靈, in ancient Greek belief and stories在古希臘的信仰和故事裡, is a spirit that sits between gods and human beings是一種介於神明和人類之間的靈體 — not fully divine, not human不完全是神，也不是人。Some were thought of as guardian spirits有些被認為是守護靈, a kind of inner voice or personal guide一種內心的聲音或私人的指引者; Socrates famously said蘇格拉底有一句名言說 a daemon warned him when he was about to do something wrong每當他快要做錯事的時候，就有一個daemon會警告他。Others were lesser powers其他的則是位階較低的靈 who carried messages or handed out luck, good or bad負責傳遞訊息或是分派運氣，不管好壞。

The spelling matters here. English keeps the old spelling 'daemon' precisely to hold on to this in-between, morally neutral meaning, because the ordinary spelling 'demon' has been narrowed by Christian usage to mean an evil spirit.

The spelling matters here拼法在這裡很重要。English keeps the old spelling 'daemon'英文保留了舊拼法「daemon」, precisely to hold on to this in-between, morally neutral meaning就是為了保住這種介於中間、沒有道德善惡的意思, because the ordinary spelling 'demon' has been narrowed by Christian usage因為一般的拼法「demon」已經被基督教的用法縮限了 to mean an evil spirit變成專指邪惡的靈。

So writers use 'daemon' when they want the Greek sense — Philip Pullman's novels made this famous by giving each person a daemon, an animal companion who is really part of their own soul.

So writers use 'daemon' when they want the Greek sense所以作家想表達希臘文那種意思的時候就會用「daemon」 — Philip Pullman's novels made this famous菲力普·普曼的小說讓這個用法出了名 by giving each person a daemon讓每個人都有一個daemon, an animal companion who is really part of their own soul一個其實是自己靈魂一部分的動物同伴。

Separately, in computing a 'daemon' is a background program that runs quietly without a user watching it, named as a joke on Maxwell's demon; that sense is unrelated to the Greek one.

Separately, in computing另外，在電腦領域裡, a 'daemon' is a background program that runs quietly without a user watching it「daemon」是指一種在背景安靜執行、沒有使用者在旁邊看著的程式, named as a joke on Maxwell's demon這個名字是拿馬克士威的惡魔開的一個玩笑; that sense is unrelated to the Greek one這個意思和希臘文那個意思沒有關係。