Idol
Etymology
From Greek “eidōlon” (image, phantom, apparition), from “eidos” (form, shape), from “idein” (to see) — the same seeing-root behind “idea.” It began as a neutral word for an image before biblical usage loaded it with the charge of a false god. Modern “idol,” as in a pop idol, revives the sense of an object of intense, sometimes unhealthy, adoration.
noun · /EYE-dul/
An image or object worshipped as a god, or anyone excessively adored.
What it names
Misplaced worship — treating a made thing, or a person, as if it were divine.
Example
The startup made an idol of growth, sacrificing everything else to a single number on a screen.
Related idea
An icon is a sacred image treated as a window pointing beyond itself to the holy; an idol is condemned precisely because the object is worshipped as the holy thing itself.