abacus

From Late Middle English abacus, abagus, agabus (“abacus; art of counting with an abacus”), from Latin abacus, abax (“sideboard or table with a slab at the top; slab at the top of a column; counting board, sand table; board for playing games”) (compare Late Latin abacus (“art of arithmetic”)), from Ancient Greek ἄβαξ άβακος (ábax ábakos, “slab, counting board; board covered with sand for drawing; plate; dice-board”). Doublet of abaque.
The plural form abaci is reinforced from Latin abacī.

der

Harvard University
Houghton Library
Roman abacus

ABACUS, among the ancients, was a kind of cupboard or buffet. Livy, deſcribing the luxury into which the Romans degenerated after the conqueſt of Aſia, ſays they had their abaci, beds, &c. plated over with gold.

1817, “ABACUS”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 5th enlarged and improved edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed at the Encyclopædia Press, for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: Gale and Fenner; York, Yorkshire: Thomas Wilson and Sons, →OCLC, page 4, column 1:

The plate and nicknacks, always found in elegant Roman houses, were displayed on small one or three legged tables (trapezophoron), the slabs of which (abacus, a word which, like trapezophoron, is sometimes used for the whole table) had raised edges round them: several richly ornamented specimens of such tables have been found at Pompeii. Fig. 446 shows a small abacus resting on three marble legs, which has been found in the house of the "Little Mosaic-Fountain" at Pompeii.

1875, E[rnst Karl] Guhl, W[ilhelm David] Koner, “The Romans”, in F[rancis] Hueffer, transl., The Life of the Greeks and Romans, Described from Antique Monuments: Translated from the Third German Edition, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, § 89 (Tables.—Tripods), pages 446–447:

(Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, historical) A board, tray, or table, divided into perforated compartments for holding bottles, cups, or the like; a kind of buffet, cupboard, or sideboard.

àbac

board, tray, or table for holding bottles, cups, etc.


Thanatos

(Greek mythology) The god of death (specifically of a peaceful death), and twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep); the Greek counterpart of Mors.


relegate

en-verb

relegate (third-person singular simple present relegates, present participle relegating, simple past and past participle relegated)

relegates (present singular third-person)
relegating (participle present)
relegated (participle past)
relegated (past)

First attested in 1561, borrowed from Latin relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

Eventually his freedom of speech drove Vespasian to relegate him a second time, and shortly after he was executed […].

2002, Mark Morford, The Roman Philosophers, →ISBN, page 183:

(transitive, historical, Ancient Rome, done to a person) Banish from proximity to Rome for a set time; compare relegate.


Achilles

Borrowed from Latin Achillēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!

1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, chapter 1, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

If once the lamentation is heard, it will ring out again, of the short-lived Achilles, of the leaf-like change and vicissitude of the human race, of the decay of the heroic age.

1910, Friedrich Nietzsche, chapter 3, in William A. Haussmann, transl., edited by Oscar Levy, The Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; 1), Edinburgh, London: T. N. Foulis, page 36:

In the last third of the Iliad, Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroklos, and his bitter enemy, Hektor, die wearing Achilles’ armor, their deaths prefiguring Achilles’ own.

2012, Richard Holway, Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books), page 153:

(Greek mythology) A mythical semidivine hero, the son of Peleus by the nereid Thetis, and prince of the Myrmidons, who features in the Iliad as a central character and the foremost warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp.


Jupiter

From Latin Iūpiter (“father Jove”), from Proto-Italic *djous patēr (literally “sky father”) (cognate with Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter, “father Zeus”)), from *djous (“day, sky”) + *patēr (“father”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws (literally “the bright one”), from *dyew- (“to be bright, day sky”), and *ph₂tḗr (“father”). Doublet of Dyaus Pita.

der

(Roman mythology) The King of the Gods, also called Jove. Equivalent to the Greek Zeus, Jupiter was one of the children of Saturn. As supreme god of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was the god of thunder, lightning, and storms, and appropriately called the god of light and sky.


ba

Any ordinary person who has ever floated out of his body during a nap knows what a Ba is, but unfortunately the dogmas of our materialistic culture constrain the person to ignore and repress his experience.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 220:

But the Ba, I remembered, could be seen as the mistress of your heart and might or might not decide to speak to you, just as the heart cannot always forgive.

(Egyptian mythology) A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.


Victoria

en-proper noun

Victoria (countable and uncountable, plural Victorias or Victoriae)

From Latin Victōria, from victōria (“victory”). Doublet of Vitória. The given name can also be analyzed as the male name Victor + -ia. The places were named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

(Roman mythology) The Roman goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike.


CT

(Egyptology) Initialism of Coffin Texts.


talent

From Middle English talent, from Old English talente, borrowed from the plural of Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”). Compare Old High German talenta (“talent”). Later figurative senses are from Old French talent (“talent, will, inclination, desire”), derived from the biblical Parable of the Talents.

der

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew XXV:14-15:

(historical) A unit of weight and money used in ancient times in Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle East, equal to about 30 to 60 kg in various times and places.


actor

→ Scottish Gaelic: actair

→ Welsh: actor

Inherited from Middle English actour, from Anglo-Norman actor, Middle French actor, and their source, Latin āctor (“doer”), from agō (“to do”). Equivalent to act + -or. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκτωρ (áktōr, “leader”), from ἄγω (ágō, “lead, carry, convey, bring”).

(obsolete, Ancient Rome) An advocate or proctor in civil courts or causes.


Asia

en-proper noun

Asia (countable and uncountable, plural Asias)

From Middle English Asia, Asie, from Old French Asie and Latin Asia, from Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ (Ăsĭ́ā), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊 (a-si-wi-ja /aswijaː/), in turn probably from Hittite 𒀸𒋗𒉿 (aš-šu-wa /Aššuwa/, “northwest Anatolia”) of uncertain origin. Potentially from an Aegean language family substrate or Akkadian. Possibly a doublet of Assuwa.

der

67 Asia
Asia
Asia (mythology)
United Nations Statistics Division

(Greek mythology) A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, the wife of the Titan, Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.


conge

From French conge, from Latin congius. Only attested in English in the obsolete plural form congys.

(historical, obsolete) Alternative form of congy, congius, ancient Roman units of liquid measure and mass.


agora

From Hebrew אֲגוֹרָה (agorá), from the root א־ג־ר (ʾ-g-r, “forming words relating to hoarding and storing”).

(numismatics) Since 1960, a monetary unit and coin of Israel, the 100th part of a shekel / sheqel.


ephebe

Via Latin ephēbus, from Ancient Greek ἔφηβος (éphēbos, “adolescent”), from ἐπί (epí, “early”) + ἥβη (hḗbē, “manhood”), late 19th c.

affix

(historical) An 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.


labyrinth

From Middle English laberynt, laberynthe, from Latin labyrinthus, from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (lăbúrĭnthos, “a maze”).

der

Mrs. Churchill liked the interminable labyrinths of the Cyrus and the Cassandra, because she had liked them in the days of her girlhood. Youth identifies itself with the romance; it is the heroic knight, or the lovely lady, of which it reads; it lives amid those fine creations; its sweetest hours are given to dreams which soon "Fade into the light of common day."

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 264–265:

(Greek mythology) A maze-like structure built by Daedalus in Knossos, containing the Minotaur.

A complicated irregular network of passages or paths, especially underground or covered, in which it is difficult to find one's way.

(horticulture) A maze formed by paths separated by high hedges.

A structure similar to a maze, but containing only one path with no branches, as distinguished from a maze which contains multiple branching paths

Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.

2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

(by extension) Anything complicated and confusing in structure, arrangement, or character.


Paris

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πάρις (Páris).

General American, Canada, Mary–marry–merry merger

(Greek mythology) A Trojan prince who eloped with Helen.


drachma

en-noun

drachma (plural drachmas or drachmae or drachmai)

drachmas (plural)
drachmae (plural)
drachmai (plural)

Borrowed from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Doublet of dram, diram, dirham, dirhem, and adarme.

doublet

An Ancient Greek weight of about 66.5 grains, or 4.3 grams.


Nike

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

(Greek mythology) The goddess of victory and triumph; Athena's companion.


Vulcan

From Latin Vulcānus, probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano.

The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.

(Roman mythology) The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.


sacrament

From Middle English sacrament, from Old French sacrement, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.

der

I'll take the sacrament on 't.

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

(Ancient Rome) The oath of allegiance taken by soldiers in Ancient Rome; hence, any sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath.


acetabulum

en-noun

acetabulum (plural acetabulums or acetabula)

Learned borrowing from Latin acētābulum (“vinegar saucer, 1/48 congius”), from acētum (“vinegar”) + -bulum (“-bule: a vessel for”).

lbor

(anatomy) The bony cup of the pelvis which receives the head of the femur.

(zootomy) The cavity in which the leg of an insect is inserted at its articulation with the body.

acetàbul

(zootomy) A sucker of the sepia or cuttlefish and related animals.

(zootomy) The large posterior sucker of the leeches.

(zootomy) One of the lobes of the placenta in ruminating animals.

A vinegar saucer, especially (historical) in ancient Roman contexts.

(historical) A Roman unit of liquid measure reckoned as the volume of 2½ Roman ounces of wine and equivalent to about 66 mL although differing slightly over time.

congius (48 acetabula) urna (192 acetabula)


mercurial

en-adj

mercurial (comparative more mercurial, superlative most mercurial)

more mercurial (comparative)
most mercurial (superlative)

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial, from Anglo-Norman mercurial and Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon, from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis, whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

ref

From the collection of the Wellcome Library in London, England, UK.

cog

Near-synonym: Hermesian

I know the ſhape of's Legge: this is his Hand: / His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh / The brawnes of Hercules: but his Iouiall face— / Murther in heaven?

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 390, column 1:

[Benjamin] Franklin, the mechanic of his own fortune, [...] tendering, from the self-created nation, to the mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive-branch of peace, the mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection and safety to the man of peace on the pathless ocean from the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war; [...]

1843 February 8, John Quincey Adams, “Presentation of Washington’s Sword and Franklin’s Staff”, in [Francis Preston] Blair, [John C.] Rives, editors, The Congressional Globe: […] (United States House of Representatives, 27th Congress, 3rd session), volume XII, number 16, Washington, D.C.: Published by Blair and Rives; […], published 10 February 1843, →OCLC, pages 254–255:

(not comparable, Roman mythology) Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.

Mercurial

pertaining to the Roman god Mercury or planet Mercury


phalanx

Borrowed from Latin phalanx or Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “battle order, array”). Doublet of phalange, planch, plancha, planche, and plank.

doublet

(historical, plural phalanxes) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.


pyramid

en-verb

pyramid (third-person singular simple present pyramids, present participle pyramiding, simple past and past participle pyramided)

pyramids (present singular third-person)
pyramiding (participle present)
pyramided (participle past)
pyramided (past)

From French pyramide, from Old French piramide, from Latin pȳramis, pȳramidis, from Ancient Greek πῡραμίς (pūramís), possibly from πῡρός (pūrós, “wheat”) + ἀμάω (amáō, “reap”) or from Egyptian pr-m-ws (“height of a pyramid”), from pr (“(one that) comes forth”) + m (“from”) + ws (“height”). Schenkel and K. Lang proposed hypothetical Coptic *ⲡⲓⲣⲁⲙ (*piram) or *ⲫⲣⲁⲙ (*phram) derived from Egyptian mr via metathesis as a source of πῡραμίς (pūramís) while Schenkel also suggested it being the source of Arabic هرم although the latter is considered far-fetched by Takacs.

der

Multiply this by the number of shares you traded, and add other positions if you pyramided.

2002, Alexander Elder, Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading, page 152:


province

Tok Pisin: provins

From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl.

He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey.

2008 November 28, Mark Brown, The Guardian:

(historical, Ancient Rome, Roman Empire) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor or prefect.


nexus

en-noun

nexus (countable and uncountable, plural nexuses or nexusses or (rare) nexus)

nexuses (plural)
nexusses (plural)
nexus (plural rare)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-nexus.wav

From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by obligation, make liable, oblige; to compose, contrive, devise, produce”) + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns).

der

(Ancient Rome, law, historical) A person who had contracted a nexum or obligation of such a kind that, if they failed to pay, their creditor could compel them to work as a servant until the debt was paid; an indentured servant.


Jerusalem

en-proper noun

Jerusalem (countable and uncountable, plural Jerusalems)

/d͡ʒəˈɹuːsələm/

/d͡ʒəˈɹuːzələm/

From Old English Hierusalem or Old French Jherusalem or Late Latin Ierusalem, Hierusalem, from Latin Hierosolyma, from Ancient Greek Ἰερουσαλήμ (Ierousalḗm), from Biblical Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yərūšālayim).

der

יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

A number of places elsewhere, usually named after the city in the Holy Land:

A census-designated place in Conway County, Arkansas.

census-designated place
census-designated place

An unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland.

An unincorporated community in Lima Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.

Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County#English

Former name of Courtland, Southampton County, Virginia.


cohort

From Latin cohors (stem cohort-); borrowed into Old English as coorta, but reintroduced into Middle English as cōhort and chōors via Old French cohorte. Doublet of court.

Three cohorts of men were assigned to the region.

Holonym: legion

Meronyms: maniple, century

But he lost the whole of his first cohort and the centurion of the first line, a man of high rank in his own class, Asinius Dento, and the other centurions of the same cohort, as well as a military tribune, Sext. Lucilius, son of T. Gavius Caepio, a man of wealth, and high position.

1900, Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by Evelyn Shuckburgh, Letters to Atticus, section 5.20:

The cohort in which he was centurion was probably the Cohors II Italica civium Romanorum, which a recently discovered inscription proves to have been stationed in Syria before a. d. 69.

1908, F. Bechtel, “Cornelius”, in edited by Charles G[eorge] Herbermann, Edward A[loysius] Pace, Condé B[enoist] Pallen, Thomas J[oseph] Shahan, and John J[oseph] Wynne, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, volume IV (Cland–Diocesan), New York, N.Y.: Robert Appleton Company, →OCLC, page 375, column 2:

But here it is as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every man of the Legions by forced marches to the help of the Empire. Leave not a cohort in Britain.' These are my orders.

1910, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Last of the Legions:

(historical, Ancient Rome, military) Any division of a Roman legion, normally of about 500 or 600 men (equalling about six centuries).


Rome

→ Hindi: रोम (rom)

→ Thai: โรม (room)

From Middle English Rome, from Old English Rōm, Rūm, from Proto-West Germanic *Rūmu, from Proto-Germanic *Rūmō and influenced by Late Latin Rōma (“Rome, Constantinople”), from Classical Latin Rōma (“Rome”). In Roman mythology, the name was said to derive from Romulus, one of the founders of the city and its first king.
The name appears in a wide range of forms in Middle English, including Rom, Room, Roome, and Rombe as well as Rome; by early modern English, it appeared as Rome, Room, and Roome, with the spelling Rome occurring in Shakespeare and common from the early 18th century on. The final spelling was influenced by Norman, Middle French, Anglo-Norman, and Old French Rome. Doublet of Roma and Rum.

do not sit in Rome and strive with the Pope

These that suruiue, let Rome reward with loue.

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 82:

Learning and Rome alike in Empire grew,
And Arts still follow'd where her Eagles flew;
From the same Foes [viz., Tyranny and Superstition], at last, both felt their Doom,
And the same Age saw Learning fall, and Rome.

1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 39:

A wife's dishonour unking'd Rome for ever.

1821, Lord Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice. An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts. […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 149:

Ancient Rome; the former Roman Empire; Roman civilization.


interpreter

/ɪnˈtɝpɹɪɾɚ/

/ɪnˈtɝpɹɪtɚ/

/ɪnˈtɜːpɹɪtə/

From Middle English interpreter, interpretour, etc., from Old French interpreteur, interpreteeur, etc., from Late Latin interpretātōr, from classical Latin interpretātus (“explained, translated”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from interpretārī (“to explain, to translate”), from interpres (“go-between, translator”) + -ārī (“to be ~ed”), q.v. In reference to divine emissaries, a calque of Mercury's Latin epithet interpres divum (“go-between of the gods”). In reference to the rhetorical device, a calque of Latin interpretatio. Equivalent to interpret + -er.
Displaced native Old English wealhstod.

A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another, particularly:

(obsolete) Synonym of translator, one who translates various forms of texts.

linguister

colonial contexts, particularly West & Central Africa

Programs written in BASIC are usually run through an interpreter rather than a compiler.

(computing) A program that converts commands into machine language in real time rather than compiling it in advance.

tolk

one who interprets a language — see also dragoman

... one of the foremost interpreters of Beethoven's piano works ...

(music, theater) A performer who presents a piece of art in a distinct style, particularly so as to make older works relevant to their audience.


Egyptian

/ɪˈd͡ʒɪp.ʃən/

From Middle English Egipcien, egyptiane. Displaced Old English Egyptisċ. By surface analysis, Egypt + -ian.

The Afroasiatic language spoken (and written) in ancient Egypt


Laconia

A city, the county seat of Belknap County, New Hampshire; named for the Laconia Car Company, a railroad car manufacturer.


Larissa

(Greek mythology) A nymph with a local cult near the city of Larissa, Thessaly.


insula

From Latin insula (“island”). Doublet of isle.

All mammals have insulas that read their body condition, Dr. Craig said.

2007 February 6, Sandra Blakeslee, “A Small Part of the Brain, and Its Profound Effects”, in New York Times:

The insula registers our physical gut feelings, including the sensation of a distended stomach and other inner states like nausea, warmth, a full bladder, and a pounding heart.

2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 608:

(neuroanatomy) A structure of the human brain located within the lateral sulcus.

aivosaari

a structure of the human brain located within the lateral sulcus


Byzantine

en-adj

Byzantine (comparative more Byzantine, superlative most Byzantine)

more Byzantine (comparative)
most Byzantine (superlative)

From Late Latin byzantinus, itself from Byzantium. The figurative senses evoke the reputation for palace intrigue of the Byzantium imperial court.

Eastern Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire

(history) Belonging to the civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire between 331, when its capital was moved to Constantinople, and 1453, when that capital was conquered by the Turks and ultimately renamed Istanbul.

بِيزَنْطِيّ

belonging to the civilisation of the Eastern-Roman empire


Egyptologist

/ˌid͡ʒɪpˈtɑləd͡ʒɪst/

An Egyptologist's mind immediately turns to the ancient Egyptian counterpart to such an imagined protosactuary: a reed hut that all late Egyptian temples, in their archaizing longing to return to the origins, sought to emulate in stone through the typically Egyptian temple features of inward-sloping walls, torus and corvetto cornice.

2018, Jan Assmann, The Invention of Religion:

A person; one who is skilled in or professes or practices Egyptology.

misirşünas

A person; one who is skilled professes or practices Egyptology


Python

From Ancient Greek Πύθων (Púthōn), from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ), the early name of Delphi, from πύθω (púthō, “to rot, to decay”).
The programming language is named after Monty Python.

Here Apollo killed a serpent called the Python, and established a great prophetic shrine. Sometimes it is said that the Titaness Themis had the shrine before him, and this, as well as the killing of the Python, suggests that Apollo took over a place already of religious significance, associated with chthonic (i.e., earth) powers.

1995, Gordon MacDonald Kirkwood, A Short Guide to Classical Mythology, page 11:

It would seem, therefore, that what we have on the Phasian phiale is the Python coiled round the omphalos.[…]Paintings on Greek pottery and coins have preserved many an example of gods seated on an omphalos, including those of Apollo, Nike, Asclepius and others.⁴¹³ Python on the omphalos must have carried some symbolic meaning.

2000, Otar Lordkipanidze, Phasis: The River and City in Colchis, page 70:

Python, says Bailey, is derived from Putho to putrify, and the serpent Python being slain by Apollo, is thus interpreted: by Python is understood the ruin of the waters; Apollo slew this serpent with his arrows; that is, the beams of the sun dispersed the noxious vapours, which destroyed man like a devouring serpent.

2005, M. A. Dwight, Taylor Lewis, Grecian and Roman Mythology, page 183:

(Greek mythology) The earth-dragon of Delphi, represented as a serpent, killed by Apollo.


Zeus

From Ancient Greek Ζεύς (Zeús). Doublet of Dyeus and Jove.

(Greek mythology) Supreme ruler of all Greek gods, husband to Hera.


Acheron

Borrowed from Latin Acherōn, from Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn), probably Pre-Greek but folk-etymologically said to be from ἄχος (ákhos, “pain, distress”) + ῥέον (rhéon, “stream”).

af

And pull her out of Acheron by the heels

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Acheron and Phlegeton, which a subterraneous fire causes to boil, are the billows of that hell which was visited by Æneas.

1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 234:

Behold! I rise from primal silence / As a storm crushing dismal shores ov Acheron

(Greek mythology) A river in the infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets, it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.


Delphi

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Δελφοί (Delphoí).

(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek, as well a diminutive of Delphine.

A city, the county seat of Carroll County, Indiana, United States.


cartouche

Borrowed from French cartouche, from Italian cartuccia, from carta, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs). Doublet of cartridge.

Besides the uncial writing on the convex side of the sherd at the top, painted in dull red, on what had once been the lip of the amphora, was the cartouche already mentioned as being on the scarabaeus, which we had also found in the casket.

1887, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 3, in She:

In 1762, Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, a French priest who was a scholar of Eastern languages, had made the inspired guess that the cartouches set off words of great importance, such as the names of gods or rulers.

2013, Margalit Fox, The Riddle of the Labyrinth, Profile 2014, page 49:

(Egyptology, hieroglyphs) An oval figure containing the characters of an important personal name, such as that of royal or divine people.


decennial

From Latin decennialis, from decennium (“10-year period”) + -ālis, from decennis (“10-year”) + -ium (“-ium”, suffix forming abstract nouns), from decem (“ten”) + annus (“year”) + -is (suffix forming compound adjectives).

Roman coins mentioning the vota publica for Macrinus are RIC IV.1 5–13; on vota publica for the decennials and vicennials of emperors in the 2nd and 3rd c. ad, see Chastagnol 1984.

2022, Martin Hallmannsecker, Roman Ionia..., p. 110

(historical) Synonym of decennalia, the festival and religious ritual held in the 10th year of a Roman emperor's reign.


oasis

en-noun

oasis (plural oases or (rare, sometimes proscribed) oasises)

oases (plural)
oasises (plural proscribed rare sometimes)

From Late Latin Oasis, from Ancient Greek Ὄασις (Óasis), from Demotic wḥj, from Egyptian wḥꜣt (“oasis, cauldron”), G43-V28-G1-X1:N25 Compare Sahidic Coptic ⲟⲩⲁϩⲉ (ouahe) and Arabic وَاحَة (wāḥa).

It was the Lost Oasis, the Oasis of the vision in the sand. […] Deep-hidden in the hollow, beneath the cliffs, it lay; and round it the happy verdure spread for many a rood. […] Yes, the quest was ended, the Lost Oasis was the Found!

1892, James Yoxall, chapter 7, in The Lonely Pyramid:

On the edge of the dunes lies the oasis town of Dunhuang, a key strategic crossroads on the Silk Road as the routes divided to the west to skirt the Taklamakan to the north and south.

2015, Michael Welland, “Barriers and Corridors, Imports and Exports”, in The Desert: Lands of Lost Borders, Reaktion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 317:

A spring of fresh water, surrounded by a fertile region of vegetation, in a desert.


synthesis

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

der

(chemistry) The reaction of elements or compounds to form more complex compounds.

اِصْطِنَاع

chemistry: reaction of elements or compounds

The Saturnalia was apparently the only occasion, however, when the synthesis could be worn in public with decorum.

1918, American Philological Association, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, page 132:


Venus

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

Coordinate term: (Greek counterpart) Aphrodite

Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arch like rainbows, and are Cinderellian in size.

1888 June 2, “Senoritas of Brazil. [Chicago Mail.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 154, page 13, column 3:

(Roman mythology) The goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and sexuality;


harpe

(Ancient Greece) A type of curved weapon or implement, variously described as a sickle, a pruning hook, or a curved sword like a scimitar. In later depictions it became a combination of a straight sword on one side and a curved blade on the other.


libra

libras (plural)
librae (plural)
contexts (Roman)

From Latin lībra (“pound”), partially via Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese libra. Doublet of lira, livre, libbre, liter, rottol, and arratel.

doublet

Ancient Roman units of measurement#Weight

pound

Portuguese contexts, but more often used for the arratel

(historical) Synonym of pound, a notional pound of silver as a money of account, especially in medieval contexts.


pugio

The Pugio or Dagger was used by the Romans, a species of that weapon called the Hand Seax was worn by the Saxons, with which they massacred the English on Salisbury Plain in 476.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34:

(historical) A dagger or poignard, especially the kind used by the Ancient Romans.


metropolis

en-noun

metropolis (plural metropolises or metropoleis or metropoles or metropolizes or metropoli or (obsolete) metropolisses or (obsolete) metropolis's)

metropolises (plural)
metropoleis (plural)
metropoles (plural)
metropolizes (plural)
metropoli (plural)
metropolisses (obsolete plural)
metropolis's (obsolete plural)

Borrowed from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”). By surface analysis, metro- + -polis. Doublet of metropole.

der

Colonies certainly did not become "clones" of their metropolises, but it is equally false that their colonial heritages were not influenced by the organization of the metropolises.

2010, James Mahoney, Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective:

(history, especially Ancient Greece) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.


hierophant

en-noun

hierophant (plural hierophants or hierophantes)

hierophants (plural)
hierophantes (plural)

/ˈhaɪəɹəˌfænt/

From Ancient Greek ἱεροφάντης (hierophántēs, from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I show, make known”)).

bor

The exhibition of ancient statues, relics, and symbols, concealed from daily adoration (as in the Catholic festivals of this day), probably, made a main duty of the Hierophant.

1837, Edward Lytton Bulwer [i.e., Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Athens: Its Rise and Fall: […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 59:

If books are as provocative as you suggest, one would expect every librarian to utter the shrill screams of a hierophant, to clash ecstatic castanets in his silent alcoves!

1919, Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:

Most scholars name the rectangular enclosure anaktoron, locate in it the throne of the hierophant, and suppose that from it emanated the central revelation which occurred, in Plutarch's phrase, ‘when the anaktora were opened’.

2005, Robert Parker, Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 351:

Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

(Ancient Greece) An ancient Greek priest who interpreted sacred mysteries, especially the priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries.


manticore

/ˈmæntɪˌkɔɹ/

From Latin mantichōras, from Ancient Greek μαρτιχόρας (martikhóras, “man-eater; tiger”), from Old Persian *martyahvārah (“man-eater”), from 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 (m-r-t-i-y /martyaʰ/, “man”).

der

Now may I present to you the basilisk?
Please down your goggles if you wish to resist
From the fiery depths of the planet’s core
The never sleeping for want of eating unholy stench of the manticore

2005, “Circus Maximus”, performed by Clutch:

(Greek mythology) A beast with the body of a lion (usually red), the tail of a scorpion, and the head/face of a man with a mouth filled with multiple rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane to paralyse prey. It may be horned, winged, or both; its voice is described as a mixture of pipes and trumpets.


vallum

From Latin vallum. Doublet of wall comes from this word via a Proto-Germanic borrowing from Latin.

(historical, Ancient Rome) A rampart; a wall, as in a fortification.


centaur

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros), from Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “a member of a savage race from Thessaly”).

(Greek mythology) A mythical beast having a horse's body with a man's head and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse.


Saturn

From Old English Sætern, from Latin Sāturnus, probably from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre), plausibly influenced by Latin satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”).

(Roman mythology) The god of fertility and agriculture, equivalent to the Greek Kronos.


ren

Learned borrowing from Egyptian rn, r:n-A2

For the Ren did not belong to the man, but came out of the Celestial Waters to enter an infant in the hour of his birth and might not stir again until it was time to go back.

(Egyptian mythology) One’s name, as part of the soul in ancient Egyptian mythology.


nymph

From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grotto, wind, etc.

нимфа

mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit


nymph

en-verb

nymph (third-person singular simple present nymphs, present participle nymphing, simple past and past participle nymphed)

nymphs (present singular third-person)
nymphing (participle present)
nymphed (participle past)
nymphed (past)

Kuster meanwhile nymphed the middle of the Snag. When I joined him, I threw my streamer between the main channel's flow and the skinnier side-channel flow, […]

2019, James W. White, Fly-fishing the Arctic Circle to Tasmania, page 253:

(fishing) To fish using a nymph larva as bait.


sphinx

From Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps either from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, to strangle”) (whence also sphincter), of Pre-Greek origin, or from Egyptian Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “divine image”, literally “living image”).

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">šzp-ꜥnḫ</i>


maniple

From Late Middle English maniple, manyple (“scarf worn as vestment, maniple”), borrowed from Middle French, Old French maniple, manipule (“handful; troop of soldiers; scarf worn as vestment”) (modern French manipule), from Latin manipulus (“bundle, handful; troop of soldiers”), from manus (“hand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)) + the weakened root of pleō (“to fill; to fulfil”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The English word is cognate with Italian manipulo (“scarf worn as vestment”) (obsolete), manipolo (“handful; troop of soldiers; scarf worn as vestment”).
Sense 2 (“part of a priest’s vestments”) is probably from the fact that the item was originally carried in the hand. It may originate from a handkerchief or napkin worn by Roman consuls as an indication of rank.

cog

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-maniple.wav

Holonym: legion

[T]hey divided the Haſtati, Principes, and Triaris, each of them into 10 companies, making of thoſe three ſorts of ſouldiers 30 ſmall regiments, which they called Manipuli: And again, they ſubdivided each maniple into two equall parts, and called them Ordines, which was the leaſt company in a legion, and according to the rate ſet down by Polybius, contained 60 ſouldiers. […] By this therefore it may appear that a legion conſiſted of four ſorts of ſouldiers, which were reduced into ten cohorts, and every cohort contained three maniples, and every maniple two orders, and every order had his Centurion marching in the head of the troop, and every Centurion had his Optionem, or Lieutenant, that ſtood in the tail of the troop.

1655, Clement Edmond[e]s, “The Second Commentary of the Wars in Gallia. [Observation.]”, in Julius Caesar, translated by Clement Edmond[e]s, The Commentaries of C. Julius Cæsar, of His Warres in Gallia, and the Civile Warres betwixt Him and Pompey, Translated into English: […], revised edition, London: […] R[oger] Daniel; and are to be sold by Henry Tvvyford, […], Nathaniel Ekins […], and Iohn Place […], →OCLC, book II, page 43:

And preſently changing the Order of his March, made his Flank which was next the Enemy thrice as ſtrong as it was before; plac'd ſeveral Spearmen and Slingers between the Battalions or Maniples of foot; planted all the Cavalry in the Wings; And after a brief Excitation to his Soldiers, caus'd the Army in this Figure to file off to the Left, and towards the Plain.

1709, Caius Crispus Sallustius [i.e., Gaius Sallustius Crispus], “The History of Caius Crispus Sallustius: Containing an Account of the Jurgurthine War”, in John Rowe, transl., Caius Crispus Sallustius the Historian Made English. […], London: […] Richard Sare, […], →OCLC, page 126:

Crossing the ditch, he was followed first by the men of his own maniple, and then by the whole legion.

1828, Titus Livius [i.e., Livy], “Book XXV.—Chapter XIV.”, in [anonymous], transl., The History of Rome by Titus Livius, the Twentieth to the Thirtieth Books Inclusive, […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] D. A. Talboys and J. Vincent, →OCLC, page 317:

Our Army, besides being of an insignificant strength compared with the physical force of the country, and so detached and scattered as to be mere maniples of men, has been so frequently into its original elements of citizenship, and has at all times so mingled with our social institutions, as to appear a homogeneous part of the grand community, and only a better regulated and more effective body of militia.

1833 June, “Art. II.—Documents Communicated to Congress by the President, at the Opening of the Second Session of the Twenty-second Congress, Accompanying the Report of the Secretary of War.”, in American Quarterly Review, volume XIII, number XXVI, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea & Blanchard […], →OCLC, page 298:

He [Ignatius of Antioch] was taken to Rome in the custody of a maniple of ten soldiers.

1945, H. Burn-Murdoch, “Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr, a.d. 110”, in Church, Continuity & Unity, 1st paperback edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, published 2014, →ISBN, page 120:

There was an insane delight to be taken in their mission. They were but two maniples. If the alarm were raised, thousands of Syracusan defenders would rise from their beds, drunk or not, and annihilate them. If it weren't, the rewards would be immeasurable.

2014, Ben Kane, Hannibal: Clouds of War, London: Arrow Books, Random House, →ISBN, page 426:

(Ancient Rome, military) A division of the Roman army numbering 120 (or sometimes 60) soldiers exclusive of officers; (generally, obsolete) any small body of soldiers.


demon

Anthony the Great
Michelangelo
en:demon
en:demon (disambiguation)

From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.

daimon

now chiefly in reference to the ancient Greek spirit

(Greek mythology) A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.


pharaoh

en-noun

pharaoh (countable and uncountable, plural pharaohs)

From Middle English pharao (also as pharaon, farao, faraon, etc.), from Old English Pharao, from Late Latin Pharaō, from Ancient Greek Φαραώ (Pharaṓ), from Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (par‘ōh), from Egyptian pr-ꜥꜣ (“palace, pharaoh”, literally “pr (“house”) + ꜥꜣ (“great, big”)”).

der

And the Egyptians ſhall know that I am the Lord, when I haue gotten me honour vpon Pharaoh, vpon his charets, and vpon his horſemen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 14:18, column 1:

(historical) The supreme ruler of Ancient Egypt; a formal address for the sovereign seat of power as personified by the "king" in an institutional role of Horus son of Osiris; often used by metonymy for Ancient Egyptian sovereignty


cornucopia

en-noun

cornucopia (countable and uncountable, plural cornucopias or cornucopiae or (archaic) cornucopiæ)

cornucopias (plural)
cornucopiae (plural)
cornucopiæ (archaic plural)

Borrowed from Latin cornūcōpia (“mythical horn of plenty”), from cornū (“horn”) + cōpia (“abundance”).

bor+

Device, an anchor held by a hand from the clouds: behind the anchor are a kind of brackets, in the form of cornucopiæ, croſſed; […]

1786, Typographical Antiquities: or An Historical Account of the Origin and Progress of Printing in Great Britain and Ireland: […], volume II, London: […] [F]or the Editor, and sold by Mr. T. Payne and Son, […], page 1163:

It soon came: as they were on their way to a transparency of their majesties, not a little larger than life—with Bellona, in a very handsome helmet, on one side, and Peace, with a cornucopia and a full blown wreath of roses, on the other—the path was interrupted by a little knot of gentlemen.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 59:

So far as Swedenborg’s elucidation extends, it is comprised in seven groupings of this family; and, possibly, the Hebraic forms of the several names which are included in them, may at some future period, like so many cornucopiæ of wisdom, yield abundance of precious fruit to the Biblical student.

1849, Elihu Rich, A Biographical Sketch of Emanuel Swedenborg: With an Account of His Works, London: E. Rich, […], page 139:

A head of Trajan, between two cornucopiæ, under which is a winged foot, with a caduceus and a dolphin.

1851, B[ram] Hertz, Catalogue of the Collection of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Indian, Peruvian and Mexican Antiquities, London: […], page 46:

On these the details of the cornucopiae resemble those familiar in the Hellenistic world: from the horn, filleted and filled to overflowing with bunches of grapes, […]

1975, Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, Nabataean Coins, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, page 25:

The three cornucopiae which branch out to hold the candles are apparently unparalleled and this in itself offers some encouragement for regarding the pieces as by Giuseppe, for the majority of his designs seem to have been cast once only (counting for this purpose a pair as a unique item, as with the lower parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum firedogs).

1981, Charles Avery, Studies in European Sculpture, Christie’s, →ISBN, page 66:

There are other mysteries expressed by the bison horn, the Paleolithic original of which the classical cornucopia is a copy: the horn of plenty is the universal vulva from which emerge all the creatures of life, plants, animals, and humans.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 105:

The two cornucopiae carried by the figure likely identify her as Isis, but they also make clear her inanimate status.

2021, Stephanie Pearson, “[The Lure of Egyptian Treasures] Egyptian Gods as Lamp Stands”, in The Triumph and Trade of Egyptian Objects in Rome: Collecting Art in the Ancient Mediterranean, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 69:

(Greek mythology) A goat's horn endlessly overflowing with fruit, flowers and grain; or full of whatever its owner wanted: or, an image of a such a horn, either in two or three dimensions.

قرن الوفرة

mythical horn endlessly overflowing with food and drink


pileus

Borrowed from Latin pīleus, a form of pilleus (“a felt cap”).

Coordinate term: Phrygian cap

Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus.

1859, William Smith, editor, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 920:

(historical, Ancient Rome) A conical felt hat worn in Ancient Rome and Greece.

plisi

felt hat worn in ancient Rome and Greece


Adonis

The Phœnician Adonis was identical with Tammūz.

1866, Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, S. George:

1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Chapter 42: Osiris and the Sun,
A strong reason for interpreting the death of Osiris as the decay of vegetation rather than as the sunset is to be found in the general, though not unanimous, voice of antiquity, which classed together the worship and myths of Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, and Demeter, as religions of essentially the same type. The consensus of ancient opinion on this subject seems too great to be rejected as a mere fancy. So closely did the rites of Osiris resemble those of Adonis at Byblus that some of the people of Byblus themselves maintained that it was Osiris and not Adonis whose death was mourned by them.

1921, Jessie Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Chapter X: The Secret of the Grail (1) - The Mysteries,
As Sir J. G. Frazer has before now pointed out, there are parallel and over-lapping forms of this cult, the name of the god, and certain details of the ritual, may differ in different countries, but whether he hails from Babylon, Phrygia, or Phoenicia, whether he be called Tammuz, Attis, or Adonis, the main lines of the story are fixed, and invariable. Always he is young and beautiful, always the beloved of a great goddess; always he is the victim of a tragic and untimely death, a death which entails bitter loss and misfortune upon a mourning world, and which, for the salvation of that world, is followed by a resurrection.

(Greek mythology) A beautiful young man loved by Aphrodite.


theme

-iːmi (for the sense dealing with the Byzantine empire only)

From Middle English teme, from Old French teme, tesme (French thème), from Latin thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”), reduplicative from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do”) (whence also English do). Doublet of thema.

Theme

computing: collection of color schemes, sounds, artwork etc.

(linguistics) Topic, what is generally being talked about.

aihe

linguistics: topic, what is generally being talked about


panic

en-adj

panic (comparative more panic, superlative most panic)

more panic (comparative)
most panic (superlative)

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.
Adjective sense 3 (“pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright”) is partly an attributive use of the noun.
The noun is derived from the adjective, while the verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.3 (“to highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show”) is derived from noun sense 4 (“a highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show”).

der

(Greek mythology, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of Panic (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”)


provost

From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.

steward

deputy overseeing medieval estates or fees

police officer

deputy overseeing medieval law enforcement; military police

One placed in charge: a head, a chief, particularly:

(religion) The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.


Uranus

Borrowed from Latin Ūranus, from Ancient Greek Οὐρανός (Ouranós), from οὐρανός (ouranós, “sky, heaven”).

(Greek mythology) The Greek god who personified the sky and heavens and fathered the Titans. Roman counterpart: Caelus.


Neptune

From Middle English Neptune, Neptunus, a borrowing from Latin Neptūnus, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰ-tu-s (“damp, cloudy”) (source of Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos), Sanskrit नभस् (nábhas), etc.), with the sense of "wet, moist."
Puhvel, however, connects it with Proto-Italic *nepōts from Proto-Indo-European *népōts by analogy to Portūnus, cognate with Vedic Apām Napāt and Avestan Apąm Napāt, Child (cf: neve, nephew) of the Water as part of an Indo-European 'Fire in the Water' myth.

Neptune
Neptune (disambiguation)#Places
Neptune (god)

(Roman mythology) The god of the ocean and of earthquakes, equivalent to Poseidon in Greek mythology.


Pluto

From Latin Plūtō, from Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn, “god of the underworld”). Venetia Burney is often credited as having suggested the name for the celestial body.

bor

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Greco-Roman god of the underworld.


Mesopotamia

From the Classical Latin Mesopotamia, from the Koine Greek Μεσοποταμία (Mesopotamía), a feminine substantive form of the adjective Μεσοποτάμιος (Mesopotámios, “between rivers”), from the Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos, “between”) + ποτᾰμός (potămós, “river”) + -ιος (-ios), so called because Mesopotamia is located between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Also used as a translation of the Biblical Hebrew נַהֲרַיִם (naharáyim), the dual form of נָהָר (nahár, “river”).

It was purchased by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1882, and continued to work between Brading and Bembridge until 1917, when it was taken over by the War Department, and sent overseas for war service in Mesopotamia, whence it never returned. It survived until at least 1921, when it was observed on the quayside at Basra.

1948 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “The Isle of Wight Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:

A region in Southwest Asia spanning from the rivers Euphrates and Tigris that is the site of one of the most ancient civilizations in the history of man.


Tutankhamun

Borrowed from Egyptian i-mn:n-t-w&t-anx (twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn, literally “Living Image of Amun”). The variant spellings of the final vowel are taken from variant forms of the name of the god Amun as found in various different sources: u from Coptic ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ (amoun), o from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), and e from the purely conventional system of Egyptological pronunciation.

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh known for his young age and his tomb, which was preserved intact to the modern age.

تُوت عَنْخ آمُون

tūt ʕanḵ ʔāmūn


Caesarean

Shortening of Caesarean section; see also Caesarean section § Etymology.


toga

togas (plural)
togae (plural)
togæ (plural)

Borrowed directly from Latin toga, from tegō (“I clothe”). Doublet of toge.
The Philippine (and Indonesian) senses are due to the resemblance of the white ceremonial gowns worn by graduates of institutions to the loose outer garment worn by the citizens of Ancient Rome.

Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga - perhaps too much dice, you know - coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:

A loose outer garment worn by the citizens of Ancient Rome.


chromatic

en-adj

chromatic (not generally comparable, comparative more chromatic, superlative most chromatic)

more chromatic (comparative)
most chromatic (superlative)

Borrowed from French chromatique (“chromatic”) or directly from its etymon Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”), from χρῶμα (khrôma, “colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove”), perhaps in the sense of the grinding of pigments) + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, suffix forming adjectives); analysable as chroma + -tic.

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-chromatic.wav

(Ancient Greece, historical) One of three types of tetrachord (the others being the diatonic and enharmonic), with an interval between half and four-fifths of the total interval of a tetrachord.


Vulgar Latin

(linguistics, historical) The Latin language as spoken by the Roman people, as opposed to Classical Latin as written in formal literature. Developed into Proto-Romance and descendant languages in the Early Middle Ages.


cyclops

en-noun

cyclops (plural cyclops or cyclopes or cyclopses)

cyclops (plural)
cyclopes (plural)
cyclopses (plural)

Borrowed from Latin cyclōps, from Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps, “Cyclops”).

der

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology.


Aeneas

From Latin Aenēās, from Ancient Greek Αἰνείας (Aineías).

(Greek mythology) A Trojan hero and the legendary ancestor of Romans.


nomen

From Latin nōmen (“name”), a clipping of nōmen gentīle (“family name”). Doublet of name and noun.

Greeks and other provincials who gained Roman citizenship kept their Greek names as cognomens, to which they added Roman nomens and praenomens—usually those of the ones to whom they owed their citizenship.

1990, Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians (Word Biblical Commentary; 41), Zondervan, →ISBN, page 2:

(historical) The family name of an Ancient Roman, designating their gens.

The adytum is unsculptured, but two monoliths within it bear the name of Physcon and Cleopatra; and in the front chamber of the naos is that of the Ethiopian king “Ashar (Atar)-Amun*, the everliving,” who in some of his nomens is called “the beloved of Isis.”

1843, [John] Gardner Wilkinson, Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including the Information Required for Travellers in That Country, volume II, London: John Murray, […], page 308:

The following is a list of the prenomens and nomens of Egyptian kings which are of common occurrence, with transliterations into Roman letters.

1906, E[rnest] A[lfred] Wallis Budge, Cook’s Handbook for Egypt and the Sûdân, 2nd edition, London: Tho[ma]s Cook & Son, […]; Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., page 189:

(historical) The birth name of a pharaoh, the fifth of the five names of the royal titulary, traditionally encircled by a cartouche and preceded by the title zꜣ-rꜥ.

Over the decades and centuries, Linnaeus’s binominal system reached ever greater prominence as a standard to categorize and stabilize organismal biology, and it became necessary to trace taxon names, so that duplication and confusion could be addressed or avoided. As a consequence, different areas of biology developed 'codes' of nomenclature, according to which the availability of such nomina could be governed.

2023, Wolfgang Denzer, Hinrich Kaiser, “Naming And Gaming: The Illicit Taxonomic Practice Of 'Nomenclatural harvesting' And How To Avoid It”, in Journal of Zoology, volume 320, number 3, page 161:


magus

From Latin magus, from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos, “magician”), from Μάγος (Mágos, “Magian”), of an indeterminate Old Iranian origin (see Μάγος for details). Doublet of mage.

Court astrologers, who were drawn from the race of the Magi, were among those that formed the royal court [...]

1922, Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 230:

Mocenigo / [satisfied at last] / Good! Now, tell me, Prior, / What is Rome’s greatest fear? What gives the Pope / More night-mares than bad sausage? / Prior Gabrielli / Heresy! / The rendering of the seamless robe of truth. / This rabble of mountebanks and maguses / Who shout reform, defile the Eucharist, / Flout all authority, elect false bishops, / Deny the Trinity and saving grace, / Abolish marriage, set their private minds / Against the long tradition of the Faith / And Peter’s dictates and the Holy Writ . . .

1969, Morris L[anglo] West, The Heretic: A Play in Three Acts […], New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →LCCN, pages 11–12:


Amazon

From Middle English, from Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn); perhaps Ionian Greek pronunciation of Old Persian *hamazan- (“warrior”), as the Amazon women were known warriors. A popular folk etymology, of Ancient Greek provenance, claims that the word derives from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μαζός (mazós, “breast”), referencing the belief that Amazons cut off their right breast so that it would not hinder their ability to fire a bow or throw a spear.

When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 149:

(Greek mythology) A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting the Black Sea area.


mummy

en-noun

mummy (countable and uncountable, plural mummies)

From Middle English mummie, from Anglo-Norman mumie, from Middle French momie, from Medieval Latin mumia, from Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ), from Persian مومیا (mumyâ), from موم (mum, “wax”). Doublet of mumijo.

der

Arabic مُومِيَاء (mūmiyāʔ)

For many, mummies fascinate more than repel. Our horrific connotations lie not so much with the mummy itself, but in associated fears. The mummy serves, of course, as a general reminder of our own mortality and our fear of death, but this alone is not enough to make it a monster.

2007, S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, volume 1, page 376:

(countable, by extension) A reanimated embalmed human corpse, as a stock character in horror films.


aegis

Borrowed from Latin aegis, from Ancient Greek αἰγίς (aigís, “goatskin; shield of Athena”), probably from αἴξ (aíx, “goat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“goat”).
The plural form aegides (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/) is borrowed from Latin aegides, from Ancient Greek αἰγῐ́δες (aigĭ́des).

IPA

IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/

покровителство

endorsement, sponsorship — see also endorsement, sponsorship

The goat Amalthea, which had suckled Jove, being dead, that god is said to have covered his buckler with the skin thereof, whence the appellation Aegis, from αιξ, αιγις, a she-goat. Jupiter afterwards restoring the goat to life, covered it with a new skin, and placed it among the stars. This buckler, which was the work of Vulcan, he gave to Minerva, who having killed the Gorgon Medusa, nailed her head to the middle of the Aegis, which henceforth possessed the faculty of converting to stone all who beheld it, as Medusa herself had while alive.

1790, “AEGIS”, in Bell’s New Pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi-gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity: … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by and for J[ohn] Bell, […], →OCLC, page 20, column 1:

Herodotus, as proof of this origin of Minerva, says, that the Greeks had taken from the Libyan women, the dress and the ægis with which her statues were represented: this dress was of leather: the ægis, as its name implies, was simply a goatskin died red and worn over the shoulders like a mantle: the extremity of it was cut into shreds or tassels, which the lively fancy of the Grecian artists converted into serpents.

1822, James Millingen, Painted Greek Vases, from Collections in Various Countries: […] (Ancient Unedited Monuments; series 1), London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 3:

The robe and aegides of the statues of Minerva the Greeks have made in imitation of the Lybians, for except that the robe among the Lybians is of leather and the fringes of the aegis are not serpents but strips of leather, the adorning is entirely the same. And the very name is an acknowledgement that the vesture of the palladium is derived from Lybia, for the Lybian women put around the robe their goat skins tasselled and stained with madder (ἐρευθεδάνω) and from these goat skins, (ἐχ δὲ τῶν αἰγἑων τουτἑων) the Greeks have taken the word aegis.

1837, F. M. Hubbard, quoting Herodotus, “Article III. An Inquiry into the Commerce of Ancient Egypt.”, in B[ela] B[ates] Edwards, editor, The American Biblical Repository, volume X, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Gould & Newman, publishers and printers, Boston, Mass.: Perkins & Marvin and Crocker & Brewster, Cincinnati, Oh.: Truman & Smith, →OCLC, page 49:

In her right hand Minerva bore a beaming lance, and in her left a buckler, called the Egis. The Egis of Minerva had embossed upon it the head of Medusa.

1849, [Eliza Robbins], “Minerva”, in Elements of Mythology; or, Classical Fables of the Greeks and Romans: […], 11th improved edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published and for sale by Hogan & Thompson […], →OCLC, page 57:

Cattle grazed where now is the Forum Romanum, and the Capitol, now glittering with gold, was covered then with brambles; nevertheless a god already dwelt there, even Jupiter himself, whose right hand had oft been seen to shake the aegis and summon the storm-clouds.

1934 November, Theodor Haecker, “Leader and Mission”, in A[rthur] W[esley] Wheen, transl., Virgil, Father of the West (Essays in Order; no. 14), London: Sheed & Ward, →OCLC, page 65:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A mythological shield associated with the Greek deities Zeus and Athena (and their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) shown as a short cloak made of goatskin worn on the shoulders, more as an emblem of power and protection than a military shield. The aegis of Athena or Minerva is usually shown with a border of snakes and with the head of Medusa in the center.


decimate

en-verb

decimate (third-person singular simple present decimates, present participle decimating, simple past and past participle decimated)

decimates (present singular third-person)
decimating (participle present)
decimated (participle past)
decimated (past)

Borrowed from Latin decimāre (“to take or offer a tenth part”), from decimus (“tenth”). As a noun, via Latin decimatus (“tithing area; tithing rights”).

tertiate

reduce proportionately, by single aliquot part

God sometimes decimates or tithes delinquent persons, and they died for a common crime, according as God hath cast their lot in the decrees of predestination.

Said to have been martyred as a Christian legionary commander of late Roman times for having refused an imperial order to kill one in ten (that is, decimate in the Roman meaning of the word) of the soldiers of another legion which had gone into revolt...

1989, Basil Davidson, “The Ancient World and Africa”, in Egypt Revisited, page 49:

...where Caesar threatened to disband Legio X after a mutiny. The men begged him to decimate them instead, and Caesar relented in the same way that Titus refrained from executing this cavalryman after his comrades’ appeal.

1998, Adrian Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War, page 263:

Shall we decimate them? That sounds good, nice word. Remove one-tenth of the population!

2007, Russell T. Davies, “The Sound of Drums”, in Doctor Who:

(archaic) To kill one-tenth of (a group), (historical, specifically) as a military punishment in the Roman army selected by lot, usually carried out by the surviving soldiers.

delmar

Roman history: to kill one out of ten men

...there will be eight hundred and ten laborers producing as nine hundred, while, to accomplish their purpose, they would have to produce as one thousand... Here, then, we have a society which is continually decimating itself...

1840, P.J. Proudhon, What is Property?, page 164:

To destroy or remove one-tenth of (something).

For example, in multiplying 3 by 0.2, the 3 units have to be decimated—that is, divided into 10 equal parts, obtaining 3 “deci-units” for each part, and then 2 such parts taken, giving as the answer 6 deci-units, or 0.6.

1910 January, “Multiplication of Decimals”, in The Practical Teacher, volume 30, number 7, page 414:

(obsolete) To divide into tenths; to decimalize.

In this dramatic picture, the nation is literally decimated, and even the tenth which remains is subjected to a further destruction.

1998, H. Wayne House, editor, Israel, the Land and the People, page 63:

African slaves were needed to replace Native American populations that had been decimated (literally reduced to one-tenth their size) by European conquest.

2003, Susan S. Hunter, Black Death, page 58:

In the New World, European colonists initially enslaved Native Americans, decimating the indigenous populations to one-tenth of their original sizes.

2005, Wilma A. Dunaway, “Put in Master’s Pocket”, in Appalachians and Race, page 116:

(proscribed) To reduce to one-tenth: to destroy or remove nine-tenths of (something).

A decimate tool allows us to obtain a more coarse-grained view of the data over the full n-dimensional space.

1999, Mihalisin & al., "Visualizing Multivariate Functions, Data and Distributions" in Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think, page 122

However, many times it is more practical to decimate existing high-res models because of time, money or manpower issues.

Given this initial fine mesh, we smooth and decimate it to a desired mesh resolution.

2004, Geremy Heitz et al., “Automatic Generation of Shape Models using Nonrigid Registration with a Single Segmented Template Mesh”, in Vision Modeling and Visualization 2004, page 74:

(computer graphics) To replace (a high-resolution model) with another of lower but acceptable quality. (Usually algorithmically)

alentaa resoluutiota

computer graphics: to replace with lower resolution


Keb

(Egyptian mythology) Alternative form of Geb


Babylon

Partially inherited from Old English Babilōn/Babȳlōn, partially from Latin Babylōn, from Ancient Greek Βαβυλών (Babulṓn), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim, literally “Gate of God”); the name of the ancient Chaldean capital and Biblical city of the Apocalypse. Doublet of Babel.

An unincorporated community in Fulton County, Illinois, United States.


fisc

Partly from Middle French fisc and partly from its etymon, Latin fiscus (“basket, money-bag, public treasury”); see fiscal.

bor

(Ancient Rome) The public treasury of Rome.


eques

From Latin eques (“horseman, knight; equestrian”).

uder

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of the equestrian order (Latin: ordo equester), the lower of the two aristocratic classes of Ancient Rome, ranking below the patricians.


scarab

→ Irish: scarab

→ Welsh: sgarab

From Middle French scarabée, from Latin scarabaeus (“beetle”). Doublet of scarabaeus, now obsolete.

The scarab, which is a very small one, Leo had insisted upon having set in a massive gold ring, such as is generally used for signets, and it was this very ring that I now picked up.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

A symbol, seal, amulet, or gem fashioned to resemble the sacred beetle.


agger

From Middle English agger (“heap, pile”), from Latin agger (“earthwork, rubble, rampart”), from ad- (“toward, towards”) + gerere (“to carry”).

der

By the Augustan period, however, the old ashlar circuit with its earthen agger was beginning to be dismantled in some places.

2012, Seth G. Bernard, “Continuing the Deabte on Rome's Earliest Circuit Walls”, in Papers of the British School at Rome, number 80, page 2:

(historical) Synonym of earthwork in ancient Roman contexts, particularly a defensive wall or mound.


Avesta

From Persian اوستا (avestâ), from Middle Persian [script needed] (abestāg /ʾp(y)stʾk'/), of uncertain meaning.

(Zoroastrianism) The primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.

الأَبِسْتَاق

the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.


Ahti

(Egyptian mythology) A goddess in Egyptian mythology.


triumvir

en-noun

triumvir (plural triumviri or triumvirs)

A Middle English back-formation from triumvirate.


Charon

Charon
Charon (disambiguation)
Charon (moon)
Edmond Hamilton
NASA

From Ancient Greek Χάρων (Khárōn). The name of the moon was coined by American astronomer James W. Christy in 1978, in reference to a fictional moon of Pluto in a novel by Edmond Hamilton but also influenced by its similarity to Char, a pet name for Charlene, his wife's name — hence the alternative American pronunciation, which is used at NASA.

coin

(Greek mythology) The ferryman of Hades, who rowed the shades of the dead across the river Styx.


kite

Borrowed from Coptic ⲕⲓⲧⲉ (kite), from Demotic qt, from Egyptian qdt.

[…] in the great Harris papyrus, […] precise quantities are recorded by weight in terms of the deben (about 2½ oz.) and the qite (¼ oz.) of gold, silver, copper and precious stones, without any reference to their value. […] Five pots of honey were bought for five qite of silver and an ox for five qite of gold.

1981, Pierre Montet, “The Arts and the Professions”, in A[ymer] R[obert] Maxwell-Hyslop, Margaret S[tefana] Drower, transl., Everyday Life in Egypt in the Days of Ramesses the Great, Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 167:

[I]t was found necessary to employ media of exchange, and emmer wheat and silver were both used for this purpose. The latter was particularly favoured, but it was normally treated by weight, being measured in kite (9.53 g) and deben (10 kite) in purely Egyptian contexts, though foreigners such as the Jewish mercenaries at Elephantine could use their own metrological systems.

1983, Allen B. Lloyd, “The Late Period, 664–323 BC”, in B[ruce] G[raham] Trigger, B[arry] J[ohn] Kemp, D[avid Bourke] O’Connor, A. B. Lloyd, Ancient Egypt: A Social History (Cambridge History of Africa), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 328:

The scribe of the temple Sedy set out with the pure priest and goldsmith Tuty for the frames; they removed one deben and three and a half qite of gold, which they took for the chief of the gang Pameniu.

2003, Pascal Vernus, “The Plunder of Western Thebes”, in David Lorton, transl., Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt: Translated from the French, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 25:

In the Saite and Persian Periods, Abnormal Hieratic and Demotic texts usually measure value as weights of silver. […] The weights of silver are almost always either the deben of 91 grams, or the kite of 9.1 grams. In the Persian Period, Demotic texts sometimes also refer to staters equated to two kite, or five to the deben.

2016, Brian Muhs, “The Saite and Persian Periods (664–332 BCE)”, in The Ancient Egyptian Economy: 3000–30 BC, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 189–190:

The shekel was an Israelite unit of weight that appears to have weighed about 10g, and so it is the rough equivalent of the Egyptian kite, which also weighed about 10g.

2017 May, Ralph Ellis, “King David”, in Solomon, Pharaoh of Egypt, 4th edition, Cheshire: Edfu Books, →ISBN, page 57:

(Egyptology) A measure of weight equivalent to ¹⁄₁₀ deben (about 0.32 ounces or 9.1 grams).


chorus

en-noun

chorus (plural choruses or (dated) chorusses or (rare) chori)

choruses (plural)
chorusses (dated plural)
chori (plural rare)

The noun is borrowed from Medieval Latin chorus (“church choir”), Latin chorus (“group of dancers and singers; dance”), from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “group of dancers and singers, choir, chorus; dance accompanied by song; round dance”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to encircle, enclose”) or *ǵʰoros. Doublet of choir, chore, and hora.
The plural form chori is from Latin chorī, from Ancient Greek χοροί (khoroí).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

[W]ee would that the voice and dialect of the propheteſſe Pythia, reſembling the ſpeech of a Chorus in a tragedie from a ſcaffold, ſhould pronounce her anſwers not in ſimple, plaine, and triviall termes, without any grace to ſet them out, but with Poeticall magnificence of high and ſtately verſes, diſguiſed as it were with metaphors and figurative phraſes, yea, and that which more is, with ſound of flute and hautboies: […]

1603, Plutarch, “Why the Prophetesse Pythia Giveth No Answers Now from the Oracle in Verse or Meeter”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 1199:

A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.

كَوْرَس

(Ancient Greece, historical) group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song

And the Apocalyps of Saint Iohn is the majeſtick image of a high and ſtately Tragedy, ſhutting up and intermingling her ſolemn Scenes and Acts with a ſevenfold Chorus of halleluja's and harping ſymphonies: […]

1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 39:

A song performed by the singers of such a group.


Serapis

Borrowed from Latin Serāpis, from Ancient Greek Σάρᾱπις (Sárāpis), from Egyptian wsjr-ḥp, from wsjr (“Osiris”) + ḥp (“Apis”).

A Graeco-Egyptian god devised during the 3rd century BC as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in the realm of Ptolemy I.


Medusa

From Middle English Medusa, Meduse, from Latin Medūsa, from Ancient Greek Μέδουσα (Médousa), from μέδω (médō, “rule over”).

1895, Adolf Furtwängler, Eugenie Strong (editor and translator), Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art, 2010, →ISBN, page 201,
On an Attic vase of the middle of the fifth century the head of Medusa in the hand of Perseus is represented as that of a beautiful woman free from any distortion. This led us to conclude (supra, p. 158) that Medusa must have been so represented at Athens in the greater arts even previous to this vase, for the vase-painters never invent such bold novelties for themselves.

It will be suggested here that the myth of Perseus, involving the decapitation of Medusa, is a narrative version of ritual.

2000, Nannó Marinatos, The Goddess and the Warrior: The Naked Goddess and Mistress of the Animals in Early Greek Religion, page 62:

But their depictions of Perseus are remarkably different and demonstrate the ambiguity of Medusa that was seeping into Victorian iconography. In later, Roman versions of the myth, for example Ovid's Metamorphoses, Perseus slays the sea monster with his sword instead of using Medusa’s head to petrify the monster.

2001, Dennis Berthold, “Melville's Medusas”, in Sanford E. Marovitz, Athanasios C. Christodoulou, editors, Melville "Among the nations": Proceedings of an International Conference, Volos, Greece, July 2-6, 1997:

(Greek mythology) The youngest and only mortal of the three gorgon sisters, killed by Perseus.

Medusa (Rubens)
Medusa (disambiguation)
Rubens


despot

From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati).

(historical) A title awarded to senior members of the imperial family in the late Byzantine Empire, and claimed by various independent or semi-autonomous rulers in the Balkans (12th to 15th centuries)


sextary

From Middle English sextarie, sextary, anglicized from Latin sextārius (“pint”). Doublet of sextarius.

The sextary seems to have contained 6 gallons, and is also used for cider and wine.

1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 172:

(historical) An Anglo-Saxon unit of liquid measure, chiefly used for wine and cider.


Hera

Borrowed from Latin Hēra, from Ancient Greek Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā).

(Greek mythology) The queen of the gods, and goddess of marriage and birth; daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, mother of Hephaestus, Ares, Hebe, and Enyo.


pygmy

From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).

Ctesias lived in Persia for several years, as the personal physician of King Ataxerxes II, and would have had contact with travellers to India, and Indian visitors to Persia. He describes dog-headed humans, pygmy men who grow their beards so long that they can be used as clothes, and affirms that it never rains in India.

2015, Sam Miller, A Strange Kind of Paradise: India through Foreign Eyes:

(Greek mythology) A member of a race of dwarfs.

джудже

a member of a mythological race of dwarfs


Aramaic

/ˌæ.ɹəˈmeɪ.ɪk/

/ˌæɹ.əˈmeɪ.ɪk/

/ˌɛɹ.əˈmeɪ.ɪk/

From Aram, the place settled by Aramaeans; from the Aramaic ארם, ܐܪܡ (ʾarām).

ܐܪܡܝܐ

ʾārāmāyā, ʾărammāyā

A subfamily of languages in the Northwest Semitic language group, including, but not limited to:

The language of the Aramaeans from the tenth century BC: often called Old Aramaic.

The language of portions of the Hebrew Bible, mainly the books of Ezra and Daniel: often called Biblical Aramaic.

Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic

The language of Jesus of Nazareth: a form of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic or Galilean Aramaic.

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

The language of Jewish targums, Midrash and the Talmuds, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.

The liturgical language of various Christian churches: often called Syriac.

The liturgical language of the Mandaeans: usually called Mandaic.


ziggurat

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒅆𒂍𒉪 (ziqqurratum).

lbor

He works in an old ziggurat of an office building.

Any building with similar style or shape.


Persephone

From Ancient Greek Περσεφόνη (Persephónē).

(Greek mythology) A minor deity, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and vegetation. Originally named Kore/Core, she is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter; and the wife of Hades. Her Roman counterpart is Proserpina.


Demeter

From Ancient Greek Δημήτηρ (Dēmḗtēr), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) + μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”).

Coordinate term: (Roman counterpart) Ceres

(Greek mythology) The goddess of the fertility of the Earth and harvests, protector of marriage and social order; daughter of Cronos and Rhea, mother to Persephone.


pandemic

The meeting of Venus with Phoebe distinguishes her roles: the business of Venus in her pandemic form is to ensure the immortality of the kinds. Her Garden has the voluptuousness necessary to ensure this, and this is 'the first seminarie / Of all things that are borne to live and die / According to their kindes.' [Quoting from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.]

1967, Frank Kermode, “World Without End or Beginning”, in The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction (The Mary Flexner Lectures on the Humanities; 1965), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; new edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2000, →ISBN, page 76:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology, rare) Alternative letter-case form of Pandemic (“of Aphrodite Pandemos, the earthly aspect of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus, as contrasted with the heavenly aspect known as Aphrodite Urania: earthly, physical, sensual.”)


Orion

From Middle English Orioun, from Latin Ōrīōn, from Ancient Greek Ὠρίων (Ōríōn), speculatively from Akkadian 𒌋𒊒𒀭𒈾 (Uru-anna, “heaven's light”), though without any firm evidence.

der

(Greek mythology) A giant-hunter, pursuer of the Pleiades and lover of Eos, and killed by Artemis.


minotaur

/ˈmɪnəˌtɔː(ɹ)/

/ˈmaɪnəˌtɑɹ/

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μινώταυρος (Minṓtauros), from Μίνως (Mínōs, “Minos, king of Crete”) + ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”).

af

(Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Minotaur

مَنْطُور

monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man


Morpheus

Borrowed from Latin Morpheus (possibly coined by Ovid in his Metamorphoses as the god is not mentioned in earlier works), from Ancient Greek Μορφεύς (Morpheús), from μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) (alluding to the fact that Morpheus appeared in dreams in the forms of different people) + -εύς (-eús, suffix forming masculine nouns indicating persons concerned with particular things).

(Greek mythology) The god and personification of dreams; according to the Roman poet Ovid, one of the sons of Somnus, the god of sleep.


Aphrodite

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē). Doublet of Aferdita.

bor+

Coordinate term: (Roman counterpart) Venus

In the "Iliad", Aphrodite is represented as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the goddess of moisture, who, as the wife of the god of heaven, was held in high esteem among the old Pelasgians.

1877, Otto Seemann, The Mythology of Greece and Rome: With Special Reference to Its Use in Art, page 65:

(Greek mythology) The goddess of beauty and love, born when Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea.


Europa

From Ancient Greek Εὐρώπη (Eurṓpē), a character name in Greek mythology.
Doublet of Europe.

(Greek mythology) Several characters, most notably a Phoenician princess abducted to Crete by Zeus.


Argus

(Greek mythology) A mythical being, also called Argos or Argus Panoptes, with many eyes, a watchman who served Hera; his eyes were later transplanted to the peacock's tail.


augur

Borrowed from Latin augur, of uncertain origin; akin to augurō (“interpret omens”).

It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman power would never recede.

1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 1-pt ii:

(Ancient Rome) An official who interpreted omens before the start of public events.


corona

en-noun

corona (plural coronas or coronae or (obsolete) coronæ)

coronas (plural)
coronae (plural)
coronæ (obsolete plural)

→ Japanese: コロナ (korona)

The noun is borrowed from Latin corōna (“crown; garland, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “type of crown; curved object (door handle, tip of a bow, stern of a ship, etc.)”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). The English word is a doublet of crown, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone.
The plural form coronae is borrowed from Latin corōnae.
The verb is derived from the noun.

laki

upper or crownlike portion of certain parts of the body

kruunu

appendage of an organism that resembles a crown or corona

From the remark of Servius [i.e., Maurus Servius Honoratus] (ad Aen. v. 269) it appears that coronae adorned with lemnisci were a greater distinction than those without them.

1842, Leonhard Schmitz, “λημνίσκος [lēmnískos, LEMNISCUS]”, in William Smith, editor, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: […] [Samuel Bentley] for Taylor and Walton, […], →OCLC, page 557, column 2:

Funerary inscriptions of soldiers under the Empire are frequently accompanied by representation of the dona militaria awarded during service. We instantly recognise depictions of torques, armillae, phalerae (often attached to a special harness), and various types of coronae.

1997 January, Lawrence Keppie, “Military Service in the Late Republic: The Evidence of Inscriptions and Sculpture”, in Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies, volume 8, Ryton, Tyne and Wear: M. C. Bishop, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 1:

Though men typically did not wear hats, they could wear a ceremonial form of headwear known as a corona, or crown. Like many areas of Roman dress, there were strict rules about wearing coronas.

2004, Sara Pendergast, Tom Pendergast, edited by Sarah Hermsen, Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages, volume 1, Detroit, Mich.: UXL, →ISBN, page 183:

(Ancient Rome, historical) A crown or garland bestowed among the Romans as a reward for distinguished services.


chiton

From Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn, “tunic”), from a Central Semitic *kittan, from the Akkadian 𒌆𒃰 (kitû, literally “flax, linen”), from Sumerian 𒄑𒃰 (kitû [GIŠ.GADA]).

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chiton.wav

On the night of our first attempt, we simply overdrank and passed out in our chitons in the woods near Francis’s house.

She wears a diaphanous himation that covers her torso, over a floor-length chiton of heavier fabric.

1998, Colette Susan Czapski, “NM238: A Hellenistic Statue and Its Archaistic Support”, in Kim J. Hartswick, Mary Carol Sturgeon, editors, Stephanos: Studies in Honor of Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, page 53:

She wears a chiton and himation, using both hands to hold the edge of the latter, in which she has gathered apples.

2002, chapter I, in Nikolaos Kaltsas, editor, Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, page 156:

(historical) A loose woolen tunic worn by men and women in Ancient Greece.


nereid

From the stem of Latin Nērēis (“sea-nymph”), from Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς (Nērēḯs), from Νηρεύς (Nēreús, “the sea-god Nereus”).

(Greek mythology) One of 50 sea nymphs who were attendants upon Poseidon (Neptune), and were represented as riding on sea horses, sometimes in human form and sometimes with the tail of a fish.


paean

Brill
Charles Scribner's Sons
National Roman Museum
Phidias

From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́n, “O Paean!, Thanks to Paean!”). According to Homer, Paián or Paean was the name of the physician of the gods; its further etymology is unclear. It has been suggested that Παιᾱ́ν is derived from *παιάϝων (*paiáwōn, “one who heals illnesses through magic”), from *παῖϝα (*paîwa), *παϝία (*pawía, “to blow”), related to παίω (paíō, “to hit, strike”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pēu-, *pyu-, *pū- (“to hit; to cut”)), or from παύω (paúō, “to bring to an end; to abate, to stop”) (from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), or that it may be a Pre-Greek word.
Compare Middle French and French paean (also French péan), Italian peana, Portuguese peã, péan.

a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">Παιᾱ́ν</i> (Paiā́n)

cog

In the mean time I am going to that part, whence I think it convenient for the battle to begin; and, as I paſs, ſhall consider how things are with reſpect to ourſelves. When I come there, and we are juſt ready to engage, I ſhall begin the Pœan;^([sic]) and do you follow.

1773, W[illiam] Cooke, “The Life of Cyrus the Great”, in The Way to the Temple of True Honor and Fame by the Paths of Heroic Virtue: Exemplified in the Most Entertaining Lives of the Most Eminent Persons of both Sexes: On the Plain Laid down by Sir William Temple in His Essay of Heroic Virtue. In Four Volumes, volume II, Devizes, Wiltshire: Printed and sold by T. Burrough, bookseller; sold also by L[ockyer] Davis, over against Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holbourn, London, →OCLC, page 64:

Oh, happy ſoldier! had thy worth been try'd, / In pious daring, on thy country's ſide! / Oh, had thy ſword Iberian battles known, / Or purple with Cantabrian ſlaughter grown; / How had thy name in deathleſs annals ſhone! / But now no Roman Pæan ſhalt thou ſing, / Nor peaceful triumphs to thy country bring, / […] Oh, hapleſs victor thou! oh, vainly brave! / How haſt thou fought, to make thyſelf a ſlave!

1795, Lucan, “The Pharsalia of Lucan”, in Nicholas Rowe, transl., The Works of the British Poets. With Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Robert Anderson, M.D., volume XII, London: Printed for John & Arthur Arch; and for Bell & Bradfute, and J. Mundell & Co. Edinburgh, →OCLC, book VI, page 797, column 1:

The pæans were songs, of which the tune and words expressed courage and confidence. […] Pæans were sung, not only when there was a hope of being able, by the help of the gods, to overcome a great and imminent danger, but when the danger was happily past; they were songs of hope and confidence as well as of thanksgiving for victory and safety.

1847, K[arl] O[tfried] Müller, “Earliest Popular Songs”, in George Cornwall [i.e., Cornewall] Lewis, transl., History of the Literature of Ancient Greece, to the Period of Isocrates. Translated from the German Ms. of K. O. Müller, Professor in the University of Gottingen (Library of Useful Knowledge), new corr. edition, London: Robert Baldwin, 47, Paternoster Row [published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge], →OCLC, pages 19–20:

(Ancient Greece, historical) A chant or song, especially a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle.

The dissolution of this great Republic, and the probable failure of the mighty experiments in government of which it has been the theatre, will be a fine subject for political parties to illustrate their various prejudices. The upholders of despotism will sing pæans over its downfall—the lovers of liberty will mourn over what appears to be the stern condition of man, to run alternately the career of improvement and of degeneracy— […]

1833 February, “The Present Crisis in the United States”, in The Monthly Magazine, of Politics, Literature, and the Belles Lettres (New Series), volume XV, number LXXXVI, London: Published by Charles Tilt, 86, Fleet Street, →OCLC, page 209:

Long before they reached this place, which was situated at the other end of the village, they heard the pæan of May carolled by a hundred voices; and, on entering the area, they immediately joined in the chorus.

1841, “The Journey”, in The Life and Times of Dick Whittington; an Historical Romance, London: Hugh Cunningham, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square; Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationers' Hall Court; Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute; Dublin: John Cumming; Glasgow: D. Campbell, →OCLC, page 57:

But what tribute shall we bestow, what sacred pæan shall we raise over the tombs of those who dared, in the face of unrivalled power, and within the reach of majesty, to blow the blast of freedom throughout a subject continent?

1843, Dawes, “Intelligence Necessary to Perpetuate Independence”, in John E[py] Lovell, editor, The United States Speaker: A Copious Selection of Exercises in Elocution; consisting of Prose, Poetry, and Dialogue: Drawn Chiefly from the Most Approved Writers of Great Britain and America: Including a Variety of Pieces Suitable for Very Young Readers: Designed for the Use of Colleges and Schools, rev. and imp. stereotype edition, New Haven, Conn.: Published by S. Babcock, →OCLC, page 27:

Butler’s wife and co-frontperson Regine Chassagne was a one-woman party, bringing sartorial sparkle, snippets of stylised choreography, her helium soprano and Caribbean fiesta spirit to the performance, skipping through the crowd back to the second stage to dance away troubles on top of the piano as she sang Haiti, her bi-lingual paean to her homeland.

2022 September 6, Fiona Shepherd, “Music review: Arcade Fire, Hydro, Glasgow”, in The Scotsman:

(by extension) Any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph.

պեան

any loud and joyous song; a song of triumph


yoke

From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh.
Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.

poikkipuu

linking or supporting object that resembles a yoke

駕駛桿 /驾驶杆

device with crosspieces used to control an aircraft

iugum

unit of land area notionally equivalent to the area a team of yoked draft animals can work in a day

[H]is will and pleaſure was they ſhould paſſe all under the yoke or gallows: the maner wherof is this. They took three ſpears or javelins, and ſet two of them pitched in the ground endlong, and their overthwart faſtned unto the other. Under this kind of gallows the Dictator compelled the Æquians to go.

1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book III]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 89:

[T]he Æqui being attacked on both ſides and unable to reſiſt or fly, begged a ceſſation of arms. They offered the dictator his own terms; he gave them their lives, but obliged them, in token of ſervitude, to paſs under the yoke, which was two ſpears ſet upright, and another acroſs, in the form of a door, beneath which the vanquiſhed were to march.

1769, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “From the Creation of the Tribunes to the Appointment of the Decemviri”, in The Roman History, from the Foundation of the City of Rome, to the Destruction of the Western Empire. […], volume I, London: […] S. Baker and G. Leigh, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; and L. Davis, […], →OCLC, page 127:

Senses relating to a frame around the neck.

(Ancient Rome) Chiefly in pass under the yoke: a raised yoke (sense 1.1), or a symbolic yoke formed from two spears installed upright in the ground with another spear connecting their tops, under which a defeated army was made to march as a sign of subjugation.

ies

raised yoke, or a symbolic yoke formed from two spears installed upright in the ground with another spear connecting their tops, under which a defeated army was made to march as a sign of subjugation