PIE base ‘to divide, share, cut up’. See also *skei- ’to cut, split’, root of science and schizoid.
Also root of democracy and epidemic, from Greek dēmos ‘people’ (division of society), tidings ‘news, events’, Swedish timme ‘hour’ and tid ‘time’, German Zeit ‘time’, and daimon ‘guiding spirit, genius’, from Greek daimōn ‘divider, provider’.
[Pokorny *dā : də-, pp. 175–179.]