See sword of Damocles on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for sword of Damocles meaning in All languages combined (8.3kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
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"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "Δαμοκλῆς"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek Δαμοκλῆς (Damoklês)",
"name": "uder"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From the following story:\nDamocles was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse. Damocles exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority, Dionysius was truly fortunate. Dionysius offered to switch places with him for a day, so he could taste that fortune first-hand. In the evening a banquet was held, where Damocles very much enjoyed being waited upon like a king. Only at the end of the meal did he look up and notice a sharpened sword hanging directly above his head, held only by a single horse-hair. Immediately, he lost all taste for the festivities and asked leave of the tyrant, saying he no longer wanted to be so fortunate. Dionysius had successfully conveyed a sense of the constant threat under which a powerful man lives.\nFrom Ancient Greek Δαμοκλῆς (Damoklês).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "swords of Damocles",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
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"Entry maintenance"
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1961 December 10, John F. Kennedy, quotee, “‘Sword of Damocles’ Popular These Days”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page 22",
"text": "Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams'”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3",
"text": "At some point the Sword of Damocles which hangs over all our railway operations will fall with catastrophic impact, just as it did at Hatfield in 2000.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune."
],
"id": "en-sword_of_Damocles-en-noun-vCsQBKiz",
"links": [
[
"impending",
"impending"
]
],
"related": [
{
"word": "hang by a hair"
},
{
"word": "hang by a thread"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "سيف مسلت"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "damoklyan sur",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "դամոկլյան սուր"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "damóklev meč",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дамо́клев меч"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espasa de Dàmocles"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "達摩克利斯之劍"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "Dámókèlìsī zhījiàn",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "达摩克利斯之剑"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessværd"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "zwaard van Damocles"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "glavo de Damoklo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "Damokleen miekka"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "épée de Damoclès"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Damoklesschwert"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "Damókleios spáthi",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Δαμόκλειος σπάθη"
},
{
"code": "ha",
"lang": "Hausa",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "takobin damokilis"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "חרב דמוקלס"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "Damoklész kardja"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "spada di Damocle"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "Damokuresu no ken",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "ダモクレスの剣"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessverd"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessverd"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "miecz Damoklesa"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espada de Dâmocles"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "damóklov meč",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дамо́клов меч"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espada de Damocles"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessvärd"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Damocles"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔɹd əv ˈdæməkliz/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-sword of Damocles.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-sword_of_Damocles.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-sword_of_Damocles.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
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"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "sword of Damocles"
}
{
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"name": "uder"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From the following story:\nDamocles was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse. Damocles exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority, Dionysius was truly fortunate. Dionysius offered to switch places with him for a day, so he could taste that fortune first-hand. In the evening a banquet was held, where Damocles very much enjoyed being waited upon like a king. Only at the end of the meal did he look up and notice a sharpened sword hanging directly above his head, held only by a single horse-hair. Immediately, he lost all taste for the festivities and asked leave of the tyrant, saying he no longer wanted to be so fortunate. Dionysius had successfully conveyed a sense of the constant threat under which a powerful man lives.\nFrom Ancient Greek Δαμοκλῆς (Damoklês).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "swords of Damocles",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "swords of Damocles"
},
"expansion": "sword of Damocles (plural swords of Damocles)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "hang by a hair"
},
{
"word": "hang by a thread"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from Ancient Greek",
"English terms derived from Greek mythology",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English terms with quotations",
"English undefined derivations",
"Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
"Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1961 December 10, John F. Kennedy, quotee, “‘Sword of Damocles’ Popular These Days”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page 22",
"text": "Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams'”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3",
"text": "At some point the Sword of Damocles which hangs over all our railway operations will fall with catastrophic impact, just as it did at Hatfield in 2000.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune."
],
"links": [
[
"impending",
"impending"
]
],
"wikipedia": [
"Damocles"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔɹd əv ˈdæməkliz/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-sword of Damocles.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-sword_of_Damocles.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-sword_of_Damocles.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
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}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "سيف مسلت"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "damoklyan sur",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "դամոկլյան սուր"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "damóklev meč",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дамо́клев меч"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espasa de Dàmocles"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "達摩克利斯之劍"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "Dámókèlìsī zhījiàn",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "达摩克利斯之剑"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessværd"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "zwaard van Damocles"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "glavo de Damoklo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "Damokleen miekka"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "épée de Damoclès"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Damoklesschwert"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "Damókleios spáthi",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Δαμόκλειος σπάθη"
},
{
"code": "ha",
"lang": "Hausa",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "takobin damokilis"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "חרב דמוקלס"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "Damoklész kardja"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "spada di Damocle"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "Damokuresu no ken",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"word": "ダモクレスの剣"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessverd"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessverd"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "miecz Damoklesa"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espada de Dâmocles"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "damóklov meč",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дамо́клов меч"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "espada de Damocles"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "damoklessvärd"
}
],
"word": "sword of Damocles"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.