Idol

Not to be confused with idle.

An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.

More specific terms include:

Worship

• Cult image, a religion-neutral term for a man-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
• Idolatry, a term used especially in Abrahamic religions for the worship of cult images, termed idols, perhaps tending towards iconoclasm, the destruction of images
• Murti, a point of focus for devotion or meditation in Hindu and Buddhist religion (not always man-made)

Entertainment

• Idol series, one of several television shows that give formerly unknown persons an opportunity to become stars. The Idol series began in the United Kingdom and has since spread around the world - Australia, Singapore, Canada, France, Germany, India, the United States, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, West African countries, Indonesia, and many other countries.
• Teen idol, a popular celebrity "worshipped" by teenagers
• Japanese idol, a heavily promoted and merchandised singer or actor, a model that will later heavily influence the conception of "idol" in the popular culture of other Asian countries such as: Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
• K-pop idol
• Billy Idol, English rock musician
• The iDol, Japanese comedy movie
• Idoling!!!, a Japanese female idol group
• "Idol", an episode of the television show Power Rangers: SPD
• Matinee idol, an adored film or theater star
• Idoli, a Serbian new wave band from the early 1980s
• 1dol, a Philippine TV musical

Other

• Brad Cain, a professional wrestler known as Lodi and Idol
• Idol (philosophy), one of several concepts developed by various philosophers
• Idol Records, a record label
• IDOL (software), meta software developed by Autonomy Corporation

See also

• Divinization (disambiguation)