"gods". The word perëndi means "heaven, sky" in some Albanian dialects, with both direct and figurative meanings. A typical example is an Albanian popular phrase gruri gjer mbë perëndi ("a pile of grain up to the skies"). As a name of God Perëndi(a) has been recognised by all Albanians already since the 19th century. However it has been mainly used as a feminine noun. It contains the stressed -i, which is the typical suffix of abstract nouns in the Albanian language. Other examples are dijeni(a) ("knowledge"), trimëri(a) ("bravery"), madhëri(a) ("majesty"). Since they belong to the declension type which is characteristic to feminine nouns in Albanian, they are normally of feminine gender. It is difficult to infer whether Albanian speakers and writers relate the noun Perëndi(a) with the concept of a personal God or a half-abstract and impersonal "deity", but in general usage in the Albanian language outside the Bible translations the noun Perëndi tends to be less personal than the noun Zot. Etymology The origin of the Albanian noun Perëndi is obscure. Several etymologies have been proposed by scholars: From an Albanian word creation of folk nature derived, by using the suffix -í of the Albanian abstract nouns, from , the accusative masculine/feminine singular of imperāns, meaning "commanding", "ruling", "demanding". From an Albanian compound of the roots per-en- ("to strike') and -dí ("sky, god"). The Proto-Indo-European theonymic roots *dei- ("to shine") and *perkwu-s ("sky/rain/oak associations") may be grouped together under the classifications of "celestial luminosity". Some scholars consider Perëndi to have been a sky and thunder god in the Albanian pagan mythology, and to have been a deity presumably worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity. As such, in some of his attributes Perëndi could be related to the Albanian weather and storm gods Shurdh and Verbt, and to the mythological demigod drangue. An Albanian attested sky and lightning god is Zojz, from PIE Dyeus (Daylight-Sky-God). From the Albanian verb perëndoj ("to set of the sun"), ultimately derived from Latin parentari, the passive correlate of parentare ("a sacrifice to the dead, to satisfy"). This etymology could relate the word perëndi with the ancient Albanian Sun cult. Usage in folk beliefs Lightning and thunder-stones In Albanian folk beliefs the lightning was regarded as the "fire of the sky" (zjarri i qiellit) and was considered the "weapon of the deity" (arma/pushka e perëndisë), indeed an Albanian word to refer to the lightning is