2238: edify vs. edifice—Has the Religious/Structural Connotation Always Existed? Jan 30, 2021

Today, an edifice only refers to a building while 'edify' (and 'edification') relates to moral instruction. This apparent disparity comes from Late Latin when the meaning shifted from building something physically to building up a person morally.

Interestingly, though probably not directly relevant, the Latin root 'aedis' comes from '*aits', from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- (to ignite; fire)—also associated with the Ancient Greek: αἴθω (aíthō), the root of 'ether'. 'Aedis' had religious connotations (as in 'temple') but also secular ones, denoting general rooms.