A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is Supreme Goddess (Mahaiia) and in some forms of Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle (with the goddess representing the active, creative power of God). Meanwhile, in Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimate reality is often seen as being composed of two principles depicted as two deities in union (yab yum, "father-mother") symbolising the non-duality of the two principles of perfect wisdom (female) and skillful compassion (male). A single figure in a monotheistic faith that is female may be identified simply as god because of no need to differentiate by gender or with a diminutive. An experiment to determine the effect of psychedelics on subjects composed of leaders from diverse religious groups revealed a general experience that the divine the subjects encountered was feminine.

Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honour multiple goddesses and gods, and usually view them as discrete, separate beings. These deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility (exemplified by the ancient mother goddess cult). Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, devilish, or neuter gods.

The noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350. The English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the language's word for god. Occasionally, one finds the root term being applied without the secondary ending.

Inanna was the most worshipped goddess in ancient Sumer. She was later syncretised with the East Semitic goddess Ishtar. Other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu and Gaga.

Goddesses of the Canaanite religion: Ba`alat Gebal, Astarte, Anat.

In pre-Islamic Mecca the goddesses Uzza, Manāt and al-Lāt were known as "the daughters of god". Uzzā was worshipped by the Nabataeans, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddesses Aphrodite, Urania, Venus and Caelestis. Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near Mecca. Uzzā, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic Quraysh. In 624 AD, during the Battle of Uhud, the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of Uzzā, people of Hubal!" (Tawil 1993).

According to Ibn Ishaq's controversial account of the Satanic Verses (q.v.), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors for Muslims, but were abrogated. Most Muslim scholars have regarded the story as historically implausible, while opinion is divided among western scholars such as Leone Caetani and John Burton, who argue against, and William Muir and William Montgomery Watt, who argue for its plausibility.

The Quran (Q53:19-31) warns of the vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities, in particular "the daughters of god".