Anubis

From Latin Anūbis, from Ancient Greek Ἄνουβις (Ánoubis), from Egyptian jnpw, i-n:p-w-E16

(Egyptian mythology) In the mythology of ancient Egypt, the god of the dead and tombs, commonly depicted with the head of a jackal.


optimate

From Latin optimātēs, masculine plural form of optimās (“best, noblest”).

The elaboration of her sateen costume (somewhat dirty and torn now) showed that she was an optimate.

1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XII, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 112:

Over the same decade, the upper stratum of Visigothic society, the optimates gradually lost their influence.

2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms, Penguin, published 2012, page 23:

(historical) A member of the patrician ruling class in republican Ancient Rome; an aristocrat, a noble.


exarch

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin exarchus.

(historical) In the Byzantine Empire, a governor of a distant province.


Maia

(Greek mythology) Daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes.

(Roman mythology) The goddess of growth after whom the month May (Latin maius) was named.


programma

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma). Doublet of program.

(obsolete, historical, Ancient Greece) Any law, which, after it had passed the Athenian senate, was fixed on a tablet for public inspection before being proposed to the general assembly of the people.


consulship

en-noun

consulship (countable and uncountable, plural consulships)

The office of a consul, in its various senses.


tetradrachm

/ˈtɛtɹədɹæm/

From Ancient Greek τετράδραχμον (tetrádrakhmon). See tetra- (“four”).

uder

τετράδραχμον

(historical, numismatics) A silver coin in Ancient Greece, equivalent to four drachms.

Alexander the Great
Heracles
Temnos
Zeus


Carthaginian

/ˌkɑɹθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/

/ˌkɑːθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/

Latin carthāginiānus, from Carthāgō + -iānus.


Carthaginian

/ˌkɑɹθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/

/ˌkɑːθəˈd͡ʒɪniən/


Cerberus

From Latin Cerberus, from Ancient Greek Κέρβερος (Kérberos), of unknown origin.

(Greek mythology) The giant three-headed dog who guards the entrance to Hades; and one of the many offspring of Echidna and Typhon.


Olympian

en-adj

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

more Olympian (comparative)
most Olympian (superlative)

From Late Middle English Olympyan, from Latin Olympius (“of or relating to Mount Olympus”) and its etymon Ancient Greek Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos, “of or relating to Mount Olympus; living on Mount Olympus; Olympian”) + English -an (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, or forming agent nouns). Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos) is derived from Ὄλῠμπος (Ólŭmpos, “Mount Olympus”) (from Pre-Greek) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).

affix

Namely, the Olympian Iove, to whom Antiochus [IV Epiphanes] conſecrated the Temple of God, 2 Mac[cabees] 6.2. and ſo he placed him, as it were, in Gods own cittadell, ver. 31. […] [T]he ſaid Olympian Iove was an Athenian Idoll, and not a Syrian one: which was Antiochus his native Country.

1648, John Diodati [i.e., Giovanni Diodati], “Annotations upon Daniel”, in R. G., transl., Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible: Plainly Expounding the Most Difficult Places thereof: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Miles Flesher, for Nicholas Fussell, →OCLC, page 611, column 2:

Deſcend from Heav'n Urania, by that name / If rightly thou art call'd, whoſe Voice divine / Following, above th' Olympian Hill I ſoare, / Above the flight of Pegaſean wing.

1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1–4:

Twelve Days were paſt, and now the dawning Light / The Gods had ſummon'd to th' Olympian Height.

1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book I”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 30, lines 640–641:

When the great pow'r that e'en the gods commands, / Who ſends the bolts from his [Jupiter's] almighty hands, / Summon'd th' immortals, who obey'd his call, / He thus addreſs'd them in th' olympian hall.

1740, Hesiod, “The Theogony, or the Generation of the Gods”, in [Thomas] Cooke, transl., The Works of Hesiod Translated from the Greek, 2nd edition, London: […] John Wilson for John Wood and Ch. Woodward, […], →OCLC, page 170, lines 603–606:

[O]ther light / Though it be quick and sharp enough to blight / The Olympian eagle's vision, is dark, / Dark as the parentage of chaos.

1818, John Keats, “Book II”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 96, lines 912–915:

[…] Hetty was quite uneducated—a simple farmer's girl, to whom a gentleman with a white hand was dazzling as an Olympian god.

1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Hetty’s World”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book first, pages 184–185:

(not comparable) Of or relating to Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece; or (Greek mythology) the Greek gods and goddesses who were believed to live there.

божествен

of or relating to the Greek gods and goddesses believed to live on Mount Olympus


Olympian

Pauſanias's account is related pretty faithfully there, if we except two errors, one, that Arcas an Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes with the brazen ſtatue, the other that he caſt a mare. […] We do not find in the author's Latin, that Arcas the Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes, &c.

1741, [Pierre] Bayle, “A Dissertation Concerning the Hippomanes”, in John Peter Bernard, Thomas Birch, John Lockman, et al., transl., A General Dictionary, Historical and Critical: […], volume X, London: […] James Bettenham, for G[eorge] Strahan, J. Clarke, […], →OCLC, page 361:

Midas longed for gold, and insulted the Olympians. He got gold, so that whatsoever he touched became gold—and he, with his long ears, was little the better for it.

1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Morrison’s Pill”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book I (Proem), page 15:

(Greek mythology) Any of the 12 principal gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, and Hades); (specifically) preceded by the: Zeus, the supreme ruler of the Greek deities.

olympolainen

any of the 12 principal gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon


the die is cast

/ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkɑːst/

Calque of Latin iacta ālea est, a grammatically, and thereby semantically, incorrect translation by the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 – p. 122 C.E.) in his work Vīta Dīvī Iūlī (On the Life of the Caesars, 121 C.E.) of the Ancient Greek ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), which was said to have been spoken by Julius Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.E.) when he crossed the Rubicon to irreversibly begin a civil war in the Roman Republic (see cross the Rubicon).
Caesar was quoting from the comedy Ἀρρηφόρῳ (Arrhēphórōi, The Bearer of Ritual Objects) by the dramatist Menander (c. 342 or 341 – c. 290 B.C.E.). The Greek phrase is more accurately translated as “let the die be cast” (meaning “let the game be played” and implying “let us proceed irreversibly”), and refers a game of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die.

noncog

ἀνερρίφθω κύβος

nb...

With an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin.

lang

Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, ‘Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος,’ διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν.

Δειπνοσοφισταί

Δειπνοσοφισταί

Δεδογμένον τὸ πρᾶγμ’ · ἀνερρίφθω κύβος

Δεδογμένον τὸ πρᾶγμ’ · ἀνερρίφθω κύβος

nb...

par Athénéé, Traduit, tant sur les Textes imprimés, que sur plusieurs Manuscrits, par M. Lefebvre de Villebrune.

Is the die caſt, muſt / At this one throvv all thou haſt gaind be loſt? / The VVorlds a Lott'ry; He that dravves may vvin: / VVho nothing ventur's, looks for nothing;[…]

[1634, H. H., “[Dedication by H. H.]”, in T[homas] H[erbert], A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC:

The die is cast. I cannot go back. I must get ready. Will you see me to the station?

1879, George Meredith, “At the Railway Station”, in The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative. […], volume II, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], →OCLC, page 188:

you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube

(idiomatic) Conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner; the point of no return has been passed; the future is determined; there are no more options.

Athenaeus
Bernadotte Perrin
Harvard University Press
Julius Caesar
Loeb Classical Library
Menander
On the Life of the Caesars
Suetonius

سبق السيف العذل

conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner

木已成舟 (mùyǐchéngzhōu, literally “the wood has already been made into a boat”)


ludus

"[…] and I'd just as soon not set foot in another ludus." "I've had my fill of ludi, believe me," he mutters. "But I've falsified a life before. I can do it again." Then he smiles. "I hear Rome is lovely." I wrinkle my nose . " I'd rather live in Pompeii's sewer[…]"

2016 November 6, Ann Gallagher, The Left Hand of Calvus: M/M Trans Historical Romantic Suspence, GallagherWitt, →ISBN:

(historical, Ancient Rome) A school, in particular:

A school, in particular:
A gladiatorial training school.

[…] the routine of the Roman ludus emphasized strenuous discipline and corporal punishment. An institution for developing the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the ludus was attended by children from the ages of seven through twelve.

1994 December 14, Gerald L. Gutek, A History of the Western Educational Experience: Second Edition, Waveland Press, →ISBN, page 63:

A private school for teaching children reading, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Greek.


ithyphallic

en-adj

ithyphallic (comparative more ithyphallic, superlative most ithyphallic)

more ithyphallic (comparative)
most ithyphallic (superlative)

/ˌɪθɪˈfælɪk/

/ˌɪθɪˈfælɪk/

Borrowed from Late Latin ithyphallicus, from Ancient Greek ἰθυφαλλικός (ithuphallikós), from ῑ̓θῠ́φαλλος (īthŭ́phallos, “phallus carried in festivals of Bacchus; ode sung in honour of the phallus; dance accompanying such an ode; dancer performing such a dance”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). ῑ̓θῠ́φαλλος is derived from ἰθῠ́ς (ithŭ́s) (variant of εὐθῠ́ς (euthŭ́s, “straight”)) + φαλλός (phallós, “penis; image of a penis, phallus”). The English word can be analysed as ithyphallus + -ic.
As regards the noun, compare Latin ithyphallicum (“poem with the same metre as the hymns to Priapus”).

refn

From the collection of the Museum of London in London, England, UK.

cog

The title ΣΟΤΗΡ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ upon the composite priapic figure published by La Chausse is well known; and it is probable that the ithyphallic ceremonies, which the gross flattery of the degenerate Greeks sometimes employed to honor the Macedonian princes, had the same meaning as this title of Saviour, which was frequently conferred upon, or assumed by them.

1822 June, R. P. Knight, “An Inquiry into the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology”, in The Classical Journal, volume XXV, number L, London: Printed by A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […]; sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown [et al.], →OCLC, part VI, paragraph 138, page 243:

In late classical and Hellenistic times the theatre could be the site of a prolonged and climactic performance by phallic choruses: Hyperides mentions the ithyphalloi dancing in the orchestra and Semos' account of both ithyphalloi and phallophoroi focuses on the moment that the choruses enter the theatre. But the ithyphalloi remained primarily processional and non-theatrical, as is clear from Demochares' account of the ithyphallic procession to meet Demetrius the Besieger.

2013, Eric Csapo, “Comedy and the Pompe: Dionysian Genre-crossing”, in E[mmanuela] Bakola, L[ucia] Prauscello, M[ario] Telò, editors, Greek Comedy and the Discourse of Genres, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 67–68:

(historical, Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the erect phallus that was carried in bacchic processions.

Ithyphallic verse, which, because it consists of one periodic order, ought to have all pure trochees, and admits no other foot, except a tribrach, […] and that scarcely in the last place, because the rhythm ought to be more remiss at the end, is used chiefly by lyric poets in place of an epode.

1830, [Johann Gottfried Jakob] Hermann, “Of Ithyphallic Verse”, in John Seager, transl., Hermann’s Elements of the Doctrine of Metres, Abridged and Translated into English, London: Printed by A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […]; sold by Longman & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, § 131, page 29:

Archilochus and other writers of epodes frequently use the ithyphallic in distich composition, and in asynartete verses as the closing rhythm. The ithyphallic occurs sometimes in the beginning, or middle, […]

1844, Edward Munk [i.e., Eduard Munk], “Rhythms, the Fundamental Foot of which is Tripletimed; the Double or Trochaic-Iambic Class”, in Charles Beck, C[ornelius] C[onway] Felton, transl., The Metres of the Greeks and Romans. A Manual for Schools and Private Study. Translated from the German, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, part II (The Application of the Laws of Rhythm to Poetry by the Greeks and Romans), section I (Simple Rhythms), page 70:

(specifically) Of a poem or song: having the metre of an ode sung in honour of the bacchic phallus.


Laestrygonian

From Ancient Greek Λαιστρυγόνες (Laistrugónes).

bor

Λαιστρυγόνες

1900, (translated by) George Herbert Palmer, The Odyssey of Homer, Houghton, Mifflin and Company
Before town they met a maiden drawing water, the stately daughter of the Laestrygonian Antiphades.

(Greek mythology) A member of a mythical Greek tribe of man-eating giants.


Laestrygonian

Λαιστρυγόνες

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to that tribe.


Ida

(Greek mythology) Name of two sacred mountains situated in present-day Turkey and Crete, also called Mount Ida.


tetartemorion

From Ancient Greek τεταρτημόριον (tetartēmórion).

der

τεταρτημόριον

(historical) A silver coin minted in Ancient Greece, valued at 1/4 of an obolus.


Amorite

/ˈæ.məˌɹaɪt/

[ˈɛə̯mɚ.ʌɪ̯t̚]

From Biblical Hebrew אֲמֹרִי (ʾĂmōrî) + -ite, of uncertain origin; compare Akkadian 𒈥𒌅 (Amurrum).


Ugaritic

From Ugarit + -ic, via a Semitic medium from Sumerian 𒀀𒃼 (a-gar₃ /agar/, “arable land”).

uder

The Northwest Semitic language of the ancient city of Ugarit in Syria. Extinct since 1100 B.C.E., it was written in cuneiform.


Dido

(Greek mythology) Founder and first Queen of Carthage.


Kassite

An ancient language spoken by the Kassites


regio

Learned borrowing from Latin regiō. Doublet of region.

The British School has unearthed a city of continuous houses, more than 400 feet long by 350 broad, whose many blocks or "insul[ae]" might seem almost to need the more elaborate grouping of the "regiones" of Pompeii.

1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 27:


Aborigines

Learned borrowing from Latin aborīginēs, which see for more.

(Roman mythology) The earliest inhabitants of central Italy, from whom the Latins were said to have descended.

aborígines

the earliest inhabitants of central Italy


nobilissimus

Changing my manner somewhat, I began with gentle censure of the Nobilissimus.

1979. Michael Psellus. Fourteen Byzantine Rulers..., p. 146

A senior title of nobility conferred on members of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families.


Nineveh

From Old English Niniue (under influence from Biblical Hebrew נִינְוֵה (nīnəwē)), from Latin Nīnevē, from Ancient Greek Νινευή (Nineuḗ), ultimately from Akkadian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 𒀏 (/Ninua/) or Old Babylonian 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 (/Ninuwā/) of uncertain origin, but is clearly a variation of 𒀏 (/ninâ/, “fish”). The cuneiform seems to denote "House of Fish", although whether this referred to literal fish, an aspect of Ishtar, a separate Hurrian goddess, or something else entirely is unclear.
The traditional folk etymology in classical antiquity derived it from an eponymous founder Ninus (Greek: Νίνος (Nínos)).


Pandarus

(Greek mythology) An archer on the side of Troy in the Trojan War who precipitated the war by breaking a truce.


Hermione

From the Ancient Greek Ἑρμῐόνη (Hermĭónē). Not related to German Hermine.

(Greek mythology) Daughter of Helen and Menelaus, wife of Orestes.


Laverna

(Roman mythology) A goddess of thieves and impostors.


kausia

He had even been known to go out and about dressed in ancient Macedonian style to mimic his hero – the flat kausia hat and the crepidae shoes.

2019, Alex Gough, Emperor’s Knife (The Imperial Assassin; 2), London: Canelo, published 2022, →ISBN:

(historical) A flat hat used in the ancient kingdom of Macedonia.


logothete

From Medieval Latin logotheta, from Ancient Greek λογοθέτης (logothétēs, “auditor of accounts”), from λόγος (lógos, “account”) + stem of τιθέναι (tithénai, “set”) + -της (-tēs) agent suffix.

der

Bardas rode to the imperial pavilion, where he seated himself next to his nephew and listened with every show of attention while one of the Logothetes read out the morning report.

1997, John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, Penguin, published 1998, page 149:

(historical) Any of various state officials or functionaries in the Byzantine Empire.

լոգոթետ

any of various state officials or functionaries in the Byzantine Empire


Dione

en-proper noun

Dione (countable and uncountable, plural Diones)

From Latin Diōnē (“of Jupiter”), from Ancient Greek Διώνη (Diṓnē, “of Zeus”).

(Greek mythology) Mother of Aphrodite, and possibly the same as the goddess Rhea.


lectica

From Latin lectica (“litter”), from lectus (“bed, couch”) + -ica (“forming related nouns”), q.v.

(historical) A kind of Roman litter, typically with bedding, curtains, and four legs.


Liber

(Roman mythology) A god of viticulture and wine, as well as male fertility and freedom.


Pandion

(Greek mythology) The name of two kings of Athens (Pandion I and Pandion II).


praetorian

/pɹɪˈtɔːɹiən/

From Middle English pretorian, from Latin praetōriānus.

praetorian guard: the bodyguard of the emperor in Ancient Rome

(Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to a praetor.

The praetorian gate was directly in front of the general's tent, and nearest to the enemy.

(Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the pretorium in an ancient Roman camp.

praetorian guard

Hey, sir? Sir, excuse me?” The blonde was calling out to him, in imperious tones that insisted on a reply. Her satraps became watchful, like a Praetorian guard.

2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 4:

(Ancient Rome) Of or pertaining to the special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors.


praetorian

/pɹɪˈtɔːɹiən/

I am so rich, I could have given bid for bid with the wealthiest Prætorians at the auction of the Roman empire (which was the world’s); and yet I owe for the flesh in the tongue I brag with.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 108, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(Ancient Rome) A praetor; a person of praetorian rank.

Durry's work is still cited as the definitive study of the praetorians, and in fact most modern scholarship on the praetorians is based on material from his work.

2013, Sandra Bingham, The Praetorian Guard, I.B.Tauris, page 6:

(Ancient Rome) Alternative letter-case form of Praetorian (“member of a special bodyguard force used by Roman emperors”).


praetor

From Middle English pretour, pretor, from the Anglo-Norman pretour, pretore, the Middle French preteur (from the Old French pretor; compare the Modern French préteur), and their etymon, the Classical Latin praetor (“leader”, “commander”, “magistrate”); the Latin praetor being contracted from *praeitor (“one who goes before”), from praeeō (“I go before”), from prae (“before”) + eō (“I go”); compare the Italian pretore, the Portuguese pretor, and the Spanish pretor.

der

prætor [16th–19th centuries, now archaic]

pretor [15th–17th centuries, 20th century–present]

(history) The title designating a Roman administrative official whose role changed over time:

(originally) A consul in command of the army.

praetor peregrīnus
praetor peregrinus#Latin

(after 366 BC) An annually-elected curule magistrate, subordinate to the consuls in provincial administration, and who performed some of their duties; numbering initially only one, later two (either of the praetor urbānus (“urban praetor”) or the praetor peregrīnus (“peregrine praetor”)), and eventually eighteen.

(historical, translating Italian "pretore") The title of the chief magistrate, the mayor, and/or the podestà in Palermo, in Verona, and in various other parts of 17th- and 18th-century Italy.


vexillation

A company of soldiers (especially in ancient Rome) grouped under the same flag.


Sumer

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒋗𒈨𒊒 (Šumeru), in Assyriology since the 1870s; compare French sumérien since 1872. Compare Shumer, Sumir. More at Sumer.

lbor

Earliest known civilization of the ancient Near East (4th to 3rd millennia BC), located in lower Mesopotamia.


pronoia

en-noun

pronoia (countable and uncountable, plural pronoiae or pronoiai or pronoias)

pronoiae (plural)
pronoiai (plural)
pronoias (plural)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόνοιᾰ (prónoiă, “foreknowledge, foresight; providence; form of land grant”), from πρόνοος (prónoos, “careful, prudent”) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, suffix forming nouns). πρόνοος is derived from προ- (pro-, prefix indicating a coming forth) + νόος (nóos, “the mind; act of the mind”). The English word is cognate with Latin pronoea (“providence”).
The plural form pronoiae is probably a modification of Latin pronoeae, while pronoiai is from Ancient Greek πρόνοιαι (prónoiai).

der

Unlike fiefs, pronoiai were granted only by the emperor, and so they played no role in producing the subinfeudation and the hierarchical social and political structure characteristic of Western feudalism. Pronoia was a fiscal and administrative institution; the fief territorial and personal. The grant of a pronoia was primarily a grant of revenue expressed as a monetary sum (the posotes), not in terms of a quantity of property.

1992, Mark C. Bartusis, “Smallholding and Pronoia Soldiers and Their Financing”, in Ruth Mazo Karras, editor, The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204–1453 (The Middle Ages Series), Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, part 2 (The Army as Institution), page 183:

By 1270 Michael VIII had issued charters to two monasteries in eastern Thessaly near the Gulf of Volos (Makrinitisa and Neopetra), showing he had acquired that region. From these years imperial grants of pronoias and of tax exemptions to various notables of east Thessaly begin appearing. Thus probably in 1267/68 the Byzantines regained some or all of Thessaly's east coast.

1987, John V[an] A[ntwerp] Fine, Jr., “The Second Half of the Thirteenth Century”, in The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 170:

The economic composition of the pronoia belonging to a heavy cavalryman in the fourteenth century, such as those who served in the mega allagion (regiment) of Thessalonike in the fourteenth century, is known to us from some of the praktika of pronoia holders that have survived. […] According to the praktikon, the revenue of the pronoiarios consisted of two parts. The first was the oikoumenon, that is, the sum of all the personal taxes paid to the pronoia holder by his paroikoi resident on the pronoia, depending on the means of production at the disposal of each paroikos. […] The second part consisted of secondary taxes and rights (e.g., on fishing, the ennomion, and the tax on flax-retting units), but above all of land, on which, theoretically, the full tax was payable[…].

2002, Nicolas Oikonomides, “The Role of the Byzantine State in the Economy”, in John Solman, transl., edited by Angeliki E. Laiou, The Economic History of Byzantium: From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century, volume 3, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, →ISBN, part 5 (Economic Institutions and the State), pages 1045–1046:

(historical, Byzantine Empire) An imperial grant to an individual of temporary fiscal rights in the form of land, incomes or taxes from land, fishing rights, etc., sometimes carrying with it an obligation of military service.


Mazda

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 (mazdā, “wisdom”).

translit

(Zoroastrianism) Ahura Mazda, the supreme and transcendental god of Zoroastrianism.


stoa

en-noun

stoa (plural stoae or stoæ or stoai or stoas)

stoae (plural)
stoæ (plural)
stoai (plural)
stoas (plural)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek στοά (stoá).

lbor

They could not vote, attend the theater, or walk in the stoa talking philosophy.

1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson:

In Ancient Greece, a walkway with a roof supported by colonnades, often with a wall on one side; specifically, the Great Hall in Athens.


Xanatos

(Greek mythology) Alternative spelling of Thanatos


decennials

en-noun

decennials pl (normally plural, singular decennial)

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


Discordia

(Roman mythology) The goddess of discord, confusion, and strife.


Pelasgian

From Ancient Greek Πελασγός (Pelasgós) + -ian, presumably based on a Pre-Greek ethnonym. Compare Egyptian pwrꜣsꜣtj, an ethnonym listed as one of the Sea Peoples attacking Egypt around 1190 BCE.

1869, Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, New Series, Volume 1, Ethnological Society of London, Trübner and Co. page 324,
Pelasgian, therefore, is regarded by him as convertible with Illyrian, and that with Gueg, subject to modifications of Tosk and relations therewith.

[…]Malte-Brun described Pelasgian as a primitive version of Greek, and distinguished it from Illyrian, which he regarded as a branch of the Thracian language.

2002, Noel Malcolm, “Myths of Albanian National Identity”, in Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Bernd Jürgen Fischer, editors, Albanian Identities, Indiana University Press, page 76:


agoge

agoge (countable and uncountable, plural agoges)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀγωγή (agōgḗ).

In ancient Greek music, tempo or pace; rhythmical movement.


titanides

(Greek mythology) The daughters of Uranus and Gaia; the female titans.


aegipan

From Latin Aegipān, from Hellenistic Ancient Greek Αἰγίπαν (Aigípan), from αἴξ (aíx, “goat”) + Πάν (Pán, “Pan”).

there were passages in Pomponius Mela, about the old African Satyrs and Oegipans, over which Usher would sit dreaming for hours.

1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher:

"No," Shin said, "I don't think that folk who were warned that you were arriving on an ogre would be terrified to learn that an aegipan was part of the group also. Though I'm flattered that you'd consider such a possibility."

2007, David Drake, The Mirror of Worlds:

(Greek mythology) A goat-like creature resembling a satyr, sometimes portrayed as having a fish's tail.


Helle

(Greek mythology) A daughter of king Athamas, who, together with her brother Phrixus, fled from their stepmother Ino to Colchis on a golden ram. On their way, she fell from its back and was drowned in the strait called, after her, Hellespont.


Aeneid

From Latin Aeneis (Greek third declension, genitive Aeneidos).

A classic epic poem, written in Latin by Virgil in the 1st century BCE (between 29 and 19 BCE), that tells the legendary story of Aeneas fleeing Troy and settling in Italy as ancestor of the Romans.

Էնեական

Classic epic poem that tells the story of Aeneas fleeing Troy and settling in Italy.


Aulis

(historical) An ancient port town in Boeotia, Greece, where, according to legend, the Greek fleet gathered to set off for Troy, and where Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia.


Nestor

From Ancient Greek Νέστωρ (Néstōr), possibly from νέομαι (néomai, “to return safely”), νόστος (nóstos, “homecoming”).

(Greek mythology) An old and wise king in Homer's Iliad.


Argive

en-adj

Argive (comparative more Argive, superlative most Argive)

more Argive (comparative)
most Argive (superlative)

From Latin Argīvus, from Ancient Greek Ἀργεῖος (Argeîos).

(Ancient Greece) Of, from or pertaining to Argos.

[…] And many an old philosophy
On Argive heights divinely sang,
And round us all the thicket rang
To many a flute of Arcady.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXIII, page 40:


Argive

The Greeks generally think that this fate came upon him because he induced the Pythoness to pronounce against Demaratus; the Athenians differ from all others in saying that it was because he cut down the sacred grove of the goddesses when he made his invasion by Eleusis; while the Argives ascribe it to his having taken from their refuge and cut to pieces certain argives who had fled from battle into a precinct sacred to Argus, where Cleomenes slew them, burning likewise at the same time, through irreverence, the grove itself.

1942, “Erato”, in George Rawlinson, transl., The Persian Wars, translation of original by Herodotus:

(Ancient Greece) An inhabitant of Argos.

(Ancient Greece, poetic) In the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, and in later classical epics, an alternate name for an Achaean, or Greek in general.


Dark Ages

/ˈdɑːˌkeɪd͡ʒɪz/

The phrase appears in writing of the English Reformation by Richard Sibbes (1620) and by George Abbot (1624), the archbishop of Canterbury. Both authors use it to refer to the period of papal supremacy before the Reformation. The earliest citation in Oxford English Dictionary is dated 1687. Use is specific to English therefore not likely to be from Latin.

(Ancient Greece) The Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100–750 BCE).


Zoroaster

/ˌzɒɹoʊˈæstəɹ/

/ˈzɒɹoʊˌæstəɹ/

Learned borrowing from Latin Zōroastrēs, from Ancient Greek Ζωροάστρης (Zōroástrēs), from Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 (zaraθuštra). Doublet of Zarathustra.

Pseudepigraphic name used by various Ancient Greek and Latin authors of late antiquity to lend weight to their opinions.


Zarathustrian

(uncommon) Relating to or characteristic of Zarathustrianism (also known as Zoroastrianism).


Zarathustrian

(uncommon) A follower of Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster).


Grecian knot

A way of knotting up a woman's hair in imitation of the Ancient Greek style.


Elysian

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Sebastiaen Vrancx

From Latin Elysium (from Ancient Greek Ἠλύσιον (Ēlúsion, “Elysium; an Elysian Field; one of the Elysian Fields”)) + -an (adjective-forming suffix).

der

(Greek mythology) Elysium (“the home of the blessed after death”).


Reds

In reference to the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine racing faction, a calque of Latin russātī (“Reddish-Brown-Clads”) or factio russata (“the reddish-brown-clad faction”) and Byzantine Greek Ῥούσιοι (Rhoúsioi, “Reds”).

bor

(informal, politics) Synonym of Communist Party in various contexts.


Pontus

From Latin Pontus, from Ancient Greek Πόντος (Póntos, “Black Sea, Pontus”), from πόντος (póntos, “sea”), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀡𐀵 (po-to). Doublet of pons.

Pont

a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea

(Greek mythology) A sea god, particularly of the Black Sea.

(historical) A province of the Roman Empire covering the area of the ancient kingdom.


Pax Romana

Learned borrowing from Latin Pāx Rōmāna, from pāx (“peace”) + Rōmāna (“Roman”), apparently coined by Seneca the Younger in 55 CE and popularized in English by Edward Gibbon in his c. 1776 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

(historical) The long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire between 27 BCE and 180 CE.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire


Luwian

From Luwia, part of Asia Minor, + -ian. For the first element see Ancient Greek Λυδός (Ludós).

an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in the 2nd millennium BC and recorded in both hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts.


Quinquatria

An ancient Roman festival in honour of Minerva.


Lares

en-noun

Lares pl (normally plural, singular Lar)

From Latin Lares, plural form of lār, from Etruscan [Term?].

Coordinate term: lemures

(Roman mythology) The household deities watching over one's family and tutelary deities watching over some public places.


demesman

(historical) A member of the same deme; a member of the same township in Attica in Greece of the Classical period.


ST

(linguistics, Egyptology) Initialism of Standard Theory.


aition

From Ancient Greek αἴτιον (aítion, “cause”).

This helps us to understand why Greek initiatory rituals are so often accompanied by an explanatory story—technically, the aition—in which the god appears twice, as the adversary of the people and as their protector. These aitia typically follow a three-part scenario […]

2020, David M. Halperin et al., editors, Before Sexuality, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 123:

(Greek mythology) An origin story or myth in Ancient Greece.


Mycenaean Greek

The most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, written in Linear B script.


buccina

Borrowed from Latin būcina, buccina. Doublet of buisine and posaune.

Coordinate term: buisine

(historical, music) A curved brass instrument used by the Ancient Roman army.


thiasarch

(Ancient Greece) The leader of a thiasus.


thiasus

From Latin, from Ancient Greek θίασος (thíasos).

(historical, Ancient Greece) A group of singers and dancers assembled to celebrate the festival of one of the gods.


synoecism

From Ancient Greek συνοικισμός (sunoikismós), from συνοικίζειν (sunoikízein, “to make live with, to unite under one city”), from σύν (sún, “together”) + οἰκίζειν (oikízein, “to colonise”).

They always remained separate states and were never synoikised.

1886, English History Review, I, pg 636:

Legends...current before the villages were synoecised into Athens.

1887, Andrew Lang, Myth, Ritual & Religion, I, pg 266:

When the town was first formed...by the synœcism of the neighboring villages.

1922, Ernest Arthur Gardner, Mantineia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XXX. 529/2:

(Ancient Greece) The unification of towns, tribes etc. under one capital city or polis.


hierodule

From Ancient Greek ἱερόδουλος (hieródoulos), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred”) + δοῦλος (doûlos, “slave”).

(historical, chiefly Ancient Greece) A temple slave, often one performing religious prostitution.


cognatus

Learned borrowing from Latin cognatus (“kinsman”). Doublet of cognate and connate.


Heraclitus

From Latin Hēraclītus, from Ancient Greek Ἡράκλειτος (Hērákleitos).

An Ancient Greek male given name from Ancient Greek, notably borne by Heraclitus of Ephesus, a pre-Socratic Ionian philosopher


Thales

A pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor.


Pandora

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πανδώρᾱ (Pandṓrā, “all gifts”).

bor

(Greek mythology) The first woman on earth, who had been given a box by the gods and instructed not to open it, but who disobeyed the instructions out of curiosity, releasing all manner of evils into the world.


crepida

Learned borrowing from Latin crepida, from Ancient Greek κρηπίς (krēpís). Doublet of crepis.

There was likewise found an abundant variety of shoes; the heavy caliga, or sandal, worn by the Roman soldiers, studded under the sole with large-headed nails, the calceus or buskin (3) and the more delicate crepida (4), or slipper looped in the leather on each side of the instep, in like manner with the buskin.

1854, “Ancient London.—No. IX.”, in The Home Friend; A Weekly Miscellany of Amusement and Instruction, volume IV, number 91, London: […] Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge […], pages 300–301:

The museum, though small, contains some very interesting objects classified in groups. In one case are Roman and other shoes, sandals, and crepidæ; […]

1866 July 20, “The Annual Congress of the Archæological Institute”, in The Building News and Engineering Journal: […], volume XIII, London: […] Proprietor of the “Building News,” [John Passmore Edwards] […], page 484, column 3:

The sole of the crepida was usually thick and leather covered the sides and heel of the foot. The crepida, considered the shoe for traveler, young man and warrior, varied in style for civilian and soldier.

1948, R[uth] Turner Wilcox, “Roman Footwear”, in The Mode in Footwear, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Charles Scribner’s Sons, Ltd, page 31:

What restlessness could have made the goddess trample the earth so fast under the crepidae twisted up on her legs like the sandals of our Romanian frontier guards.

1984, Romanian Review, volume 38, page 74:

Crepidae often covered the foot up to or including the ankle, and they sometimes covered the toes, not a regular feature of the sandal. An excellent example of crepidae with high layered, multicolored soles is depicted in the room of the initiation in the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii, as worn by Ariadne.

1994 December, Norma Goldman, “Roman Footwear”, in Judith Lynn Sebesta, Larissa Bonfante, editors, The World of Roman Costume (Wisconsin Studies in Classics), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, published 2001, →ISBN, part I (Roman Garments, Hairstyles, Accessories), page 114, column 1:

He had even been known to go out and about dressed in ancient Macedonian style to mimic his hero – the flat kausia hat and the crepidae shoes.

2019, Alex Gough, Emperor’s Knife (The Imperial Assassin; 2), London: Canelo, published 2022, →ISBN:

(Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) A type of footwear consisting of a sole attached to the foot with fairly elaborate straps, distinguished by the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans from sandals proper but now usually considered a style of sandal.


Ancient Macedonian

The Hellenic language of Ancient Macedonians, probably related to Ancient Greek, spoken in Macedon from 808 BCE till 168 BCE


Ha

(Egyptian mythology) A god of the deserts to the west of Egypt, associated with the underworld (duat) and pictured as a man wearing the symbol for desert hills on his head.


Eblaite

(historical) An extinct Semitic language spoken in the 3rd millennium BCE, primarily in the ancient city of Ebla, which is located in modern Syria. It was written in cuneiform script and is considered to be the oldest written Semitic language.


Silvanus

From Latin Silvanus, a Latin cognomen, from silva (“forest”). The name Silas, from the early Christian apostle, was Latinised as Silvanus by Paul.


Argos

(Greek mythology) The dog of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey.

(Greek mythology) Alternative form of Argus (“many-eyed servant of Hera”)


Laetitia

(Roman mythology) The goddess of gaiety.


apella

From Ancient Greek ἀπέλλα (apélla), which originally meant fold, fence for animals.
* Hesychius of Alexandria: apellai (ἀπέλλαι), sekoi (σηκοί: folds), ecclesiai (εκκλησίαι: popular assemblies): Nilsson, Vol I, p. 556

(Ancient Greece, politics) The popular deliberative assembly in the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia in most other Greek states.


Titanian

As whom the fables name of monstrous size, / Titanian or earth-born, that warred on Jove, […]


latifundium

From Latin lātifundium, from lātus (“wide, extensive”) + fundus (“ground, base, estate, farm”).

The conclusive military victory of Philip V left the grandees stranded, still rich and still powerful on their latifundia, but stripped of the ‘aristocratic republicanism’ they had previously enjoyed.

2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 251:

His vision for the future of the African continent in the Age of the Aerotropolis seems to be as a vast latifundium sown with GM wheat.

2011, Will Self, “The frowniest spot on Earth”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.9:

(chiefly in the plural) A great landed estate with absentee ownership and labor often in a state of partial servitude.

latifundium

great land estate with absentee ownership


Methone

From Latin Methōnē, from Ancient Greek Μεθώνη (Methṓnē). Doublet of Methoni and Modon.

(Greek mythology) One of the Alkyonides.


Eurydice

From Latin Eurydicē, from Ancient Greek Εὐρυδίκη (Eurudíkē).

(Greek mythology) A nymph and the wife of Orpheus.

(Greek mythology) The name of various figures in Greek mythology.


Erebus

From Latin Erebus. Doublet of rajas.
[Alt: Mount Erebus]

(Greek mythology) One of the Greek primordial deities who was the personification of darkness and shadow, brother-husband of Nyx and son of Chaos.

Nay, were he Deul, as he is no man,
Yet in reuenge of faire Zenocrate,
UUhome he detayneth in deſpight of vs,
This arme ſhould ſend him downe to Erebus,
To ſhroud his ſhame in darkneſſe of the night.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene i:

(Greek mythology) The dark and gloomy cavern between the earth and Hades; the underworld.


Euphrosyne

Translingual: Euphrosyne

From Ancient Greek Εὐφροσύνη (Euphrosúnē).

(Greek mythology) One of the three Charites and the goddess of joy.


lustrate

en-verb

lustrate (third-person singular simple present lustrates, present participle lustrating, simple past and past participle lustrated)

lustrates (present singular third-person)
lustrating (participle present)
lustrated (participle past)
lustrated (past)

From Latin lustrātus (“lustrated”), perfect passive participle of lustrō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lustrum (“ritual purification”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), q.v. In reference to imparting luster, further via senses of Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro.

af

We must purge, and cleanse, and lustrate the whole city.

c. 1650, Henry Hammond, Miscellaneous Theological Works..., Vol. 3, Sermon 23, p. 503 (1850 ed.)

"Well," said Hypatia, more and more listlessly; "it might be more prudent to show them first the fairer and more graceful side of the old Myths... I wish to lustrate them afresh for the service of the gods."

1853, Charles Kingsley, chapter 20, in Hypatia:

Mid-zenith hangs the fascinated day
In wind-lustrated hollows crystalline.

1909, Edith Wharton, “An Autumn Sunset”, in Artemis to Actaeon and Other Poems:

(transitive) Synonym of purify, to ritually cleanse or renew, particularly to do so with a propitiatory offering or (historical) the lustration, quinquennial ritual of the Roman censor to cleanse the city after a census.

purify

(transitive, intransitive, with 'through') Synonym of pass through, traverse.

(transitive, obsolete) Synonym of look, look over, survey.


Romulus

(Roman mythology) The legendary founder of Rome and the twin brother of Remus.


Remus

(Roman mythology) The legendary founder of Rome and the twin brother of Romulus.


Dioscuri

From Latin Dioscūrī, from Ancient Greek Διόσκουροι (Dióskouroi, “the youths of Zeus”).

der

Or, alas, might not one rather attribute it to Diana in the shape of Hunger? To some twin Dioscuri, OPPRESSION and REVENGE; so often seen in the battles of men?

1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (States-General):

Cæsar, either more ambitious or less confident in his services, raised a new and costly row of columns in front of the Capitol. He built a temple to the Dioscuri, and he charmed the populace with a show of gladiators unusually extensive.

1879, James Anthony Froude, chapter XI, in Cæsar: A Sketch, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 108:

(Greek mythology) The twin brothers Castor and Pollux together.


Cydonia

From Latin Cydonia, from Ancient Greek Κυδωνία (Kudōnía), q.v.

(historical) Former name of Chania, a city on the island of Crete, Greece.

(historical) A former state on the island of Crete around the city.


Minos

At length we arrived at the gate of Elysium. Here was a prodigious crowd of spirits waiting for admittance, some of whom were admitted, and some were rejected; for all were strictly examined by the porter, whom I soon discovered to be the celebrated judge Minos.

1749, Henry Fielding, “A Journey from this World to the Next”, in Thomas Roscoe, editor, The Works of Henry Fielding: Complete in One Volume, Henry G. Bohn, published 1851, page 602:

That the Cyclades were subject to Minos, is confirmed by numerous traces; and the general belief of the ancients was, that he founded colonies even in Lemnos and Thrace.

1856, Leonhard Schmitz, Connop Thirlwall, A History of Greece From the Earliest Times to the Destruction of Corinth, 4th edition, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 37:

Whether or not Minos really existed and ruled at Knossos, the ruins on Kephala hill today are known by the name Evans gave them.

2003, Chris Scarre, Rebecca Stefoff, The Palace of Minos at Knossos, Oxford University Press, page 38:

(Greek mythology) The mythological first king of Crete, a son of Zeus by Europa, who imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth and after death was made a judge of the dead in Hades; a putative corresponding historical person.

Dante Alighieri
Gustave Doré
Inferno (Dante)


Pelops

From Ancient Greek Πέλοψ (Pélops, “dark face, eye”).

uder

(Greek mythology) A Greek mythological figure, the son of Tantalus, and king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus.


Tritonian

(Greek mythology) Of or pertaining to the classical Greek god Triton.


duumvir

One of two persons jointly exercising the same office in Republican Rome.


duumvirate

From Latin duumvirātus, from duumvir + -ātus. Equivalent to duumvir + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the group of people involved with it).

af

(historical) Any of several offices of the Roman Republic held by two joint magistrates known as duumvirs.


epinicion

en-noun

epinicion (plural epinicions or epinicia)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπινίκιον (epiníkion).

(Ancient Greece) A song or ode in celebration of triumph or victory.


Lavinia

Latin Lavinia, of obscure meaning. Lavinium was a town in ancient Latium.

(Roman mythology) The daughter of Latinus and wife of Aeneas.


Mithra

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬨𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 (miθra). Doublet of Mitra.

translit

The cult of Mithra had been spread by soldiers and had thrived particularly in the frontier provinces of the empire.

1991, Robert Schilling, "Roman Religion", Roman and European Mythologies, UChicago Press, p. 67. (English language translation of a French text)

The Roman Mithra was best known for his act of slaying a bull; yet there is no indication that the Iranian Mithra ever made his way into a bullpen for any reason. The Roman Mithra didn't appear at all interested in contract enforcement or escorting demons into hell.

2008, James Patrick Holding, Shattering the Christ Myth, Xulon Press, page 202:

(rare, esoterica, hyperforeign) Roman Mithras.

[Term?] (/*miça/) (non-loan native OP for the same figure, only known from Elamite and Babylonian translations of OP inscriptions)


Ishtar

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar). Doublet of Astarte and Ashtoreth. Despite modern folk-etymology, not related in any way to English Easter.

lbor

(Mesopotamian mythology) A goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she was the divine personification of the planet Venus; the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the northwest-Semitic goddess Astarte.

عشتار

Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, sex, and war


Inanna

As popular with the mythmakers as Enki, or even more so, was his granddaughter Inanna, city goddess or^([sic]) Uruk and one of the most complex figures in the Mesopotamian pantheon.

1996, Cecil Roth, Encyclopaedia Judaica: Ur-Z, Encyclopaedia Judaica, page 1505p:

During the second half of the third and early part of the second millennia B.C.E., the Sumerian goddess Inanna was worshiped in seven cities of southern Mesopotamia (among them Zabala, Agade, and Kish), but principally in her temple Eana at Uruk.

1999, Serinity Young, Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion: A-K, Macmillan, page 466:

Even at this period, Inanna appears in various manifestations, each of which seems to possess a separate cult, temples with cultic functionaries, and the right to receive offerings.

2002, The SSEA Journal, Volume 29, Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, page 17:

(mythology, Mesopotamian mythology) A Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare, known by the Akkadians as Ishtar and later identified with Astarte, Aphrodite, and Venus.


Asman

From Avestan 𐬀𐬯𐬨𐬀𐬥 (asman, “sky”). Cognate of Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎶𐎴 (a-s-m-n /asman-/, “sky”).

cog

𐬚𐬡𐬁𐬴𐬀 𐬚𐬡𐬁𐬴𐬀#Avestan

(Zoroastrianism) Avestan and Middle Persian name of the Zoroastrian divinity that is the hypostasis of the sky. Asman is the "highest heaven," and is distinguished from the firmament, 𐬚𐬡𐬁𐬴𐬀 (θβāṣ̌a), which lies nearer the earth.


Ahura Mazda

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 (ahura mazdā). Doublet of Aramazd.

translit

A relief sculpture of Ahura Mazda stands among the ruins of Persepolis in Iran.

2003, Jeffrey Brodd, World Religions 2003: A Voyage of Discovery, page 181:

What is important is that Darius and his successors were fervent Mazdeans, that is, worshipers of Ahura Mazda.

2004, Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, page 555:

Thus Ahura Mazda may be analogous to the Christian Trinity (one God in three persons), except consisting of one God in seven Amesha Spentas. In any event, the doctrine of the Amesha Spentas should not be interpreted in any way that compromises Zoroaster′s monotheism, although it would eventually change in exactly that way after the passing of Zoroaster himself.

2012, Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions, page 190:

(Zoroastrianism) The divinity exalted by Zoroaster as the one uncreated Creator, or God.

阿胡拉·馬茲達 /阿胡拉·马兹达

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá


Ahuna Vairya

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬥𐬀 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (ahuna vaⁱriia).

𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬥𐬀 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀

(Zoroastrianism) Avestan language name of the most sacred of the Gathic hymns of the Avesta, the revered texts of Zoroastrianism.


Yasna

From Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬯𐬥𐬀 (yasna, “oblation; worship”).

uder

(Zoroastrianism) The primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta.

(Zoroastrianism) The principal Zoroastrian act of worship at which those verses are recited.


Angra Mainyu

From Avestan 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (aŋra.maⁱniiu), from 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀 (aŋra, “evil”) + 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (maⁱniiu, “spirit”). Doublet of Ahriman.

der

𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎

(Zoroastrianism) Avestan language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive spirit". The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman.


daeva

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 (daēuua). Doublet of deva.

translit

(Zoroastrianism) A supernatural entity of disagreeable nature, usually considered as a demon.


Vendidad

From Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬋𐬛𐬁𐬙𐬀 (vīdaēvōdāta, literally “given against the demons”).

uder

(Zoroastrianism) A collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. By content, an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them.


Amesha Spenta

en-noun

Amesha Spenta (plural Amesha Spenta or Amesha Spentas)

Amesha Spenta (plural)
Amesha Spentas (plural)

t

𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀

𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀 (aməša spəṇta)

Avestan: 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀 (aməša spəṇta)

ამეშა სპენტა

ამეშა სპენტა (ameša sṗenṭa)

Georgian: ამეშა სპენტა (ameša sṗenṭa)

Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭬𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭯𐭭𐭣 (ʾmḥʿspnd /amahraspand/)

Persian: امشاسپند (fa) (amešâspand), امهرسپند (amahraspand)

From Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀 (aməša spəṇta, “Bounteous Immortal”).

der

𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀

Thus whereas Bousset, for instance, regarded the Amesha Spentas of the Zoroastrian religion as a textbook example of the process by which concrete divine beings could be evaporated into abstract figures,² it is now recognized that the development ran, in fact, in the opposite direction, that is, from the personification of abstract concepts to concrete protecting spirits, while the ancient Persian gods were the object of Zoroaster′s fierce attack.³

1967, Walter Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, page 195:

Each Amesha Spenta retains his or her⁵ individual nature and life which was given at their creation.[…]and it is an act he also accomplishes through the guardianship and identification that the Amesha Spentas have for and with the world.

1998, Peter Clark, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to Ancient Faith, page 30:

Having created Asha,^([divine order]) Ahura Mazda was its first follower. He rules through His Divine Powers, the Amesha Spenta, the immortal Shining Ones, collectively known as the Haft Amshahspands, the Seven Amesha Spenta.

2003, Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, “8: The Notions of Divine Being in various Religions”, in Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, editor, World Religions and Islam: A Critical Study, Part 1, page 125:

(Zoroastrianism) Any of the six immortal beings created by Ahura Mazda plus Ahura Mazda himself, often equated to archangels, virtues, and elements of nature.


Ameretat

From Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬁𐬙 (amər^ətāt, “not dying”).

(Zoroastrianism) The Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of "not dying". As the hypostasis of immortality, Ameretat is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and eternal life in the hereafter.


Haurvatat

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬬𐬀𐬙𐬁𐬙 (haurvatāt, “wholeness”). Doublet of Khordad.

translit

(Zoroastrianism) The Zoroastrian concept of “wholeness” or “perfection”. As a divinity, Haᵘrvatat is the Amesha Spenta of water, prosperity, and health.


Bahrām

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Wr̥tragʰnás. Doublet of Vahagn.

(Zoroastrianism) Verethragna; The Zoroastrian concept of “victory over resistance” and, as the hypostasis of victory, one of the principal figures in the Zoroastrian pantheon of yazatas.


Mitanni

Learned borrowing from Hittite 𒌷𒈪𒋫𒀭𒉌 (ᵁᴿᵁmi-ta-an-ni).

lbor

(historical) Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia from circa 1500 B.C.E., at the height of its power, during the 14th century BC, encompassing what is today southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq.


Ancient Rome

The civilization associated with Rome from the 9th century BCE to the 5th century C.E. and the Roman Empire centered on it.

Roma e lashtë

civilization associated with Rome from the 9th century BC to the 5th century AD


Chimera

Apulia
Chimera (mythology)
Chimera of Arezzo
Etruscan civilization
Louvre
Mount Chimaera
Strabo

As the mythological beast, a variant case form of chimera, q.v. As an ancient mountain, directly from Latin mons Chimaera (“Mount Chimera”), from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira), attested in Strabo.

CHIMERA, a fabulous monſter...

1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184

(Greek mythology) A supposed fire-breathing monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or snake, killed by the hero Bellerophon.

քիմեր

Greek myth: monster killed by Bellerophon

CHIMERA... The foundation of the fable was, that in Lycia there was a burning mountain, or vulcano, of this name; that the top of this mountain was ſeldom without lions, nor the middle, which had very good graſs, without goats; that ſerpents bred at the bottom, which was marſhy; and that Bellerophon rendered the mountain habitable.

(geography, Ancient Greece) A fire-spewing mountain in Lycia or Cilicia, presumed to be an ancient name for the Yanartaş region of Turkey's Antalya Province.


Haoma

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀 (haoma).

translit

Quickly spake Zarathustra: praise to the Haoma, the created by Mazda! Good is Haoma, the created by Mazda! Praise to the Haoma!

1864, Arthur Henry Bleeck, Friedrich Spiegel, Avesta: The Religious Books of the Parsees, Yasna 9.23, page 61

Even today Zoroastrian women who are with child pray to Hoama and constantly recite the Hōm Yasht in order to have distinguished sons.

1993, W.B. Fischer, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshster, The Cambridge History of Iran, page 653:

(Zoroastrianism) Hypostatic divinity of the haoma plant.


Kore

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl, maiden”).

lbor

(Greek mythology) The birth name of Persephone/Proserpina, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and of vegetation. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter; and the wife of Hades.


Hypnos

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ὕπνος (Húpnos, literally “Sleep”).

bor

(Greek mythology) The god and personification of sleep. The son of Nyx and Erebus, twin brother of Thanatos, husband of Pasithea, and the father of the Oneiroi. His Roman counterpart is Somnus.


adoratrice

Calque of Egyptian dwꜣt (“adoratrice”), from dwꜣ (“to worship, to praise”) + -t (feminine ending).

A kind of female quasi-royal priestess in Ancient Egypt.


Nanna

Borrowed from Sumerian 𒀭𒋀𒆠 (ᵈnanna /Nanna/).

bor+

The god of the moon in Sumerian mythology.


Capitoline

From Latin Capitolīnus (adj. & n.), from Capitolium (“Capitoline Hill”) + -inus (“-ine: forming adjectives”), from the oblique stem of caput (“head”) + -ō (“forming nouns”) or -ōlus (“-ole: forming diminutives”) + -ium (“forming location names”).

Capitoline Hill
Constantine the Great
Museum of Roman Civilization

He said to meet him on the Capitoline.

Synonym of Capitoline Hill, the highest of the seven hills of Rome.


Euamerion

From Ancient Greek Εὐαμερίων (Euameríōn), from εὐ- (eu-) + ἁμἐρα (hamera) + -ίων (-íōn).

af

(Greek mythology) Alternative name for Telesphoros


quadriga

en-noun

quadriga (plural quadrigae or quadrigas)

From Latin quadrīgae, literally "four yoked", from quattuor (“four”) + iugum (“yoke”).

(historical) A team of four horses, or sometimes other animals, especially as used in chariot racing.


Mentor

en-proper noun

Mentor (countable and uncountable, plural Mentors)

From Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr, “Mentor”).

(Greek mythology) Odysseus's trusted counselor. He was assigned the responsibility of raising Odysseus's son Telemachus while Odysseus was away fighting in Troy.


deuteragonist

From Ancient Greek δευτεραγωνιστής (deuteragōnistḗs, literally “second actor”), originally in Greek drama, from ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”).
By surface analysis, deuter- (“second”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

der

δευτεραγωνιστής

surf

The first disposition accords with the attested reality of Nero acting in masks resembling his own features or those of women with whom he was in love (Suet. Nero 21.3), especially Poppaea (Dio 63.9.5), and generates a set of roles for the deuteragonist all of which focus on failed counsel; it also underlines the parallelism between the Seneca-Nero and Nero-Prefect scenes, and reinforces the view that the First and Second Prefect are not identical.

2008, A. J. Boyle, editor, Octavia: Attributed to Seneca, Oxford University Press, page 93:

In the distribution of the other roles between the deuteragonist and the tritagonist, the same criteria must have applied. When two characters had an important part in a tragedy and could not be played by a single protagonist, the second was played by the deuteragonist.[…]The tritagonist, even more than the deuteragonist, had to play several secondary roles.

2018, Jacques Jouanna, translated by Steven Rendall, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context, Princeton University Press, page 201:

(historical, ancient Greek drama) An actor playing a role (potentially all roles) requiring a second actor to be present on the stage, opposite the protagonist.


menology

Partially from meno- (“month-”) + -ology (“study, account”) and partially from anglicization of Medieval Latin mēnologium and Byzantine Greek μηνολόγιον (mēnológion), q.v. Doublet of menologion, menologium, and menologe.

doublet

In the Mart. of Donegal, this is the day of St. Comgall (Comhgall), placed in the Menology on the 27th June, as having no day.

1892, Richard Stanton, A Menology of England and Wales..., p. 645

The menology of the tenth century has the formula ...

1935, Stephen Langdon, Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars, page 86:

The duration of the rites of mourning over nine days is... supported by references in a Standard Babylonian menology...

2003, Andrew R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic..., p. 53

The Menology of St Symeon mostly repeats earlier accounts but includes some small additions as well.

(often capitalized) Synonym of menologium, a monthly record, particularly in Assyriology and certain Christian contexts.


Sexet

(Egyptian mythology) Egyptian goddess of malevolent fire, sister of Bast, the bringer of ill-fortune


Aurelian

From Latin Aurelianus, derivative of the gens name Aurelius (“golden”).

A male given name from Latin, of mostly historical use in English.


decadrachm

(historical) A unit of currency in Ancient Greece, worth ten drachmas.


Uruk

From Akkadian 𒌷𒀕 (/uruk/), from Sumerian 𒀕 (unug, “abode, site, location, seat, typically in reference to a deities earthly dwelling”) either as a phonetic alteration of the Sumerian or influenced as a calque translation using Akkadian 𒌷 (/uru/, “city, place of dwelling or collecting under”).

der

[…] since the goddess Antu did not hold a prominent status at Uruk before the fifth century. The primary purpose of MLC 1890 was evidently to present Antu as universal goddess and all-encompassing cosmic location.

2019 January 8, Christine Proust, John Steele, Scholars and Scholarship in Late Babylonian Uruk, Springer, →ISBN, page 248:

(historical) An ancient city in Sumer and Babylonia, in modern-day Iraq.


Leander

From Ancient Greek Λέανδρος (Léandros), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).

Leander, he would have lived many a fair year, though Hero had turned nun, if it had not been for a hot midsummer night.

(Greek mythology) The lover of Hero who swam every night across the Hellespont to meet her, and finally was drowned.


speos

A tomb or temple carved from the solid rock


Procrustes

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Προκρούστης (Prokroústēs).

bor+

(Greek mythology) A celebrated legendary highwayman of Attica, who tied his victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either stretched or cut off their legs to adapt them to its length.


Megaera

From Ancient Greek Μέγαιρα (Mégaira, “the jealous one”), from μεγαίρω (megaírō, “to grudge, envy”).

bor

(Greek mythology) One of the Furies, Erinyes in Greek mythology, the cause of jealousy and envy, who punishes people who commit crimes, especially marital infidelity.


Stymphalides

From Latin Stymphālides, from Ancient Greek Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες (Stumphalídes órnithes, “birds of Stymphalus”).

der

Στυμφαλίδες ὄρνιθες

(Greek mythology) In Greek mythology, a flock of metallic man-eating birds that haunted Lake Stymphalis in Arkadia. They were slain by Herakles as part of his sixth Labour, who took advantage of their sensitive sense of hearing.


Avernus

From Latin Avernus, from Ancient Greek ἄορνος (áornos), ἄϝορνος (áwornos, “birdless”), from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + ὄρνις (órnis, “bird”). The lack of birds was likely due to fatal gases like carbon dioxide seeping from the volcanically active lake.

His fiery eies are fixt vpon the earth.
As if he now deuiſ’d some Stratageme:
Or meant to pierce Auernus darkſome vauts.
To pull the triple headed dog from hell.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

The entrance to Hell or the underworld, or the underworld itself.


Palaic

From Pala (“a region in Anatolia northwest of Hattusa”) + -ic.

suffix

An extinct Indo-European language belonging to Anatolian branch, attested in cuneiform tablets in Bronze Age Hattusa.


xenelasy

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ξενηλᾰσῐ́ᾱ (xenēlăsĭ́ā, “expulsion of foreigners”) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Ξενηλᾰσῐ́ᾱ (Xenēlăsĭ́ā) is derived from ξενηλατεῖν (xenēlateîn, “to expel a foreigner”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); and ξενηλατεῖν (xenēlateîn) is from ξένος (xénos, “foreigner; stranger”) (probably from Pre-Greek) + ἐλαύνω (elaúnō, “to drive, set in motion; to drive away”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁elh₂- (“to drive somewhere”)) + -ειν (-ein, suffix forming infinitives of verbs).

der

The old discipline and the public mess (as far as the rich were concerned) had degenerated into mere forms—a numerous body of strangers or non-citizens (the old xenêlasy, or prohibition of resident strangers, being long discontinued) were domiciled in the town, forming a powerful moneyed interest; […]

1846, George Grote, “Laws and Discipline of Lykurgus at Sparta”, in History of Greece, 2nd edition, volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1849, →OCLC, part II (Historical Greece), pages 537–538:

Le Roi was in London, cook to a gambling house, while the Baron Squrzenstern Von Hairontuft, had been warned off the premises by a process nearly allied to the Spartan "Xenelasy," so Desmond was left alone.

1853, chapter III, in Passion and Pedantry, […], volume I, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC, pages 39–40:

For the effect produced at Sparta by their institution of Xenelasy,—the prohibiting the residence of foreigners—is produced at Crete by the isolation their insular position brings with it. 'Their distance is equivalent to xenelasy.'

1855, Richard Congreve, “Πολιτικων Β [Politikōn B]”, in Aristotle, ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΟΥΣ ΤΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΑ [Aristotelous ta Politika]: The Politics of Aristotle […], London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son […], →OCLC, footnote 15, page 93, column 1:

Where no actual prohibition exists, the conditions on which foreigners are admitted are sometimes so onerous as practically to exclude them. […] There is indeed little difference between the restrictive laws of modern European and American policy and the rude xenelasy of the Spartans, or the selfcomplacent exclusive system of the Chinese.

1863, William Edward Hearn, “Of the Circumstances which Determine the Extent of Exchange”, in Plutology: Or The Theory of Efforts to Satisfy Human Wants, Melbourne, Vic.: George Robertson, […], →OCLC, § 4, pages 261–262:

Massive expulsion of (enemy) aliens—xenelasy—has often occurred in the past, e.g., by France on the outbreak of the Franco-German war of 1870, by Turkey on the occasion of her wars with Greece in 1897 and with Italy in 1911[…].

1972, J[an] H[endrik] W[illem] Verzijl, “The Law Relating to Aliens”, in International Law in Historical Perspective, part V (Nationality and Other Matters Relating to Individuals), Leiden, South Holland: A[lbertus] W[illem] Sijthoff, →ISBN, section 2 (Admission, Sojourn and Expulsion of Aliens), page 425:

(Ancient Greece, historical) The practice of expelling foreigners in Doric Crete and Lacedaemonia.


Aeolus

From the Latin Aeolus, from the Ancient Greek Αἴολος (Aíolos, “moving, swift”).

(Greek mythology) The name of a number of characters in Greek mythology, including the founder of the Aeolian race, and a god with power over wind.


nundine

From Latin nundinae (“ninth-days”), a clipped form of nundinae feriae (“ninth-day festivals”), from its observance every eighth day (9 counting inclusively) and from the Latin practice of treating most recurring calendrical days as plurals.

A market or fair held every eight days, particularly (historical) in Roman contexts.


bambakion

From Byzantine Greek βαμβάκιον (bambákion).

In his quilted gray bambakion with its frayed hood, worn over a ragged white tunic, there was a hint of service in the armies of Byzantium, while the brass eyelets on the straps of his buskins suggested a sojourn in the West.

2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 4:

(historical) A type of padded under-garment, worn under armour, especially by Byzantine troops.


Valerius

"Here you are!" said George, pointing with his cigar. "Cato - Publius Valerius by Virgil out of Lydia. That's what you want. Publius Valerius is Christian enough."
Dartie, on arriving home, had informed Winifred. She had been charmed. It was so 'chic'. And Publius Valerius became the baby's name, though it afterwards transpired that they had got hold of the inferior Cato. In 1890, however, when little Publius was nearly ten, the word 'chic' went out of fashion, and sobriety came in; Winifred began to have doubts. They were confirmed by little Publius himself, who returned from his first term at school complaining that life was a burden to him - they called him Pubby. Winifred - a woman of real decision - promptly changed his school and his name to Val, the Publius being dropped even as an initial.

1920 John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga: In Chancery:I: Chapter 2

A male given name from Latin of mostly historical use in English.


Archimedes

är′kə-mēʹdēz

/ˌɑːɹkɪˈmiːdiːz/

Learned borrowing from Latin Archimēdēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀρχιμήδης (Arkhimḗdēs).

An Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer (c. 287–212 BCE).


hippocamp

(Greek mythology) A mythological creature, a cross between a horse and a fish.


Linear B

Named by British archaeologist Arthur Evans, to distinguish it from the other linear script, Linear A.

(archaeology, linguistics) A syllabary used to write Mycenaean Greek in the second millennium BC, before the invention of the Greek alphabet.


Linear A

Named by British archaeologist Arthur Evans, to distinguish it from the other linear script, Linear B.

(archaeology, linguistics) A syllabary used to write the as-yet-undeciphered Minoan language, and an apparent predecessor to other scripts, such as Linear B.


Palaeologus

The last dynasty ruling the Byzantine Empire.


lampad

(Greek mythology) nymph of the Underworld


despotate

From despot + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the concrete charge of it). Compare despotat.

af

Even before the great sultan Mehmed II, known as El Fatih (the Conqueror), took power in Turkey, the Serbian despotate had become the booty of the invaders.

1974, Vladimir Dedijer, History of Yugoslavia, page 129:

δεσπότης δεσπότης

(historical) An area ruled by a despot (δεσπότης) in the late Byzantine Balkans (12th to 15th centuries).


aphroditic

en-adj

aphroditic (comparative more aphroditic, superlative most aphroditic)

more aphroditic (comparative)
most aphroditic (superlative)

(Greek mythology) Of or pertaining to Aphrodite


exode

(historical, Ancient Rome) A comic afterpiece, either a farce or a travesty.


kykeon

en-noun

kykeon (usually uncountable, plural kykeons)

From Ancient Greek κυκεών (kukeṓn), from κυκάω (kukáō, “I mix”).

An Ancient Greek drink made mainly of water, barley and herbs. Closely tied to Demeter and the seasonal celebrations of Crete.


Elissa

From Ancient Greek Ἔλῐσσᾰ (Élĭssă); probably from Phoenician 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎𐤕 (ʾlʾst /Elishat/), 𐤀𐤋𐤀𐤎 (ʾlʾs /Elisha/).

(Greek mythology) Dido, queen of Carthage.


maenad

From Latin maenas (“bacchant”), from Ancient Greek μαινάς (mainás, “raving, frantic”), from Ancient Greek μαίνομαι (maínomai, “be furious”).

uder

Blanche Stroeve was in the cruel grip of appetite. Perhaps she hated Strickland still, but she hungered for him, and everything that had made up her life till then became of no account. She ceased to be a woman, complex, kind and petulant, considerate and thoughtless; she was a Maenad. She was desire.

1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 30”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

(Greek mythology) A female follower of Dionysus, associated with intense reveling.


pomerium

/pəʊ̆ˈmɪə.ɹɪ.əm/

From Latin pōmoerium, pōmērium (“the religious boundary of a city”), either from post (“behind”) + moerus, mūrus (“wall”) + -ium (neuter form of -ius (adjective-forming suffix)), or derived from an Etruscan word.

Nay Sidonius Apollinaris aſſures us farther, that the Place where St. Peter was buried, tho' there was then a Church built over it, was ſtill in his Time, An. 470. without the Pomœria, or Space before the Walls of Rome. For ſpeaking of his Journey to Rome, he ſays, before ever he came at the Pomœria of the City, he went and ſaluted the Church of the Apoſtles, which ſtood in the Via Triumphalis.

1722, Joseph Bingham, “Of Cemeteries,or Burying-Places, with an Enquiry, How and When the Custom of Burying in Churches First Came In”, in Origines Ecclesiasticæ: Or, The Antiquities of the Christian Church. …, volumes X (Giving an Account of Funeral Rites, or the Custom and Manner of Burying the Dead, Observed in the Ancient Church. With a Particular Enquiry, How and When the Custom of Burying in Churches First Came In), London: Printed for R. Knaplock at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Churchyard, →OCLC, book XXIII (Of Funeral Rites, or the Custom and Manner of Burying the Dead, Observed in the Ancient Church), page 7:

But to return to the point from which I digressed, and to illustrate how some people spend useless efforts on these same topics, the man I referred to reported that Metellus in his triumph, after conquering the Carthaginians in Sicily, alone among all the Romans had 120 elephants led before his chariot, and that Sulla was the last of the Romans to have extended the pomerium, [footnote: The religious boundary of a city.] which it was the ancient practice to extend after acquiring Italian, but never provincial territory. Is it better to know this than to know that the Aventine Hill, as he asserted, is outside the pomerium for one of two reasons, either because the plebs withdrew to it or because when Remus took the auspices there the birds had not been favourable – and countless further theories that are either false or very close to lies?

1997, [Lucius Annaeus] Seneca; C. D. N. Costa, editor and transl., “On the Shortness of Life”, in Dialogues and Letters (Penguin Classics), London; New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-044679-1; extracted as On the Shortness of Life (Great Ideas; 1), London: Penguin Books, 2004, ISBN 978-0-141-01881-2, page 22

The myth [of Romulus and Remus] insisted on the exclusion of the Aventine from the boundary of the pomerium, emphasizing that it was a place apart from Rome proper, even if closely related to the city's sacred enclosure. And at the end of this episode, the killing of Remus underlined the sanctity of the city's boundary, dearer than any brother. The myth presents a definition of Rome. The pomerium had a physical presence too. In the imperial period it was clearly marked by massive blocks of stone, 2 m. tall and 1 m. square.

1998, Mary Beard, John North, Simon Price, “The Place of Religion: Rome in the Early Empire”, in Religions of Rome, volume 1 (A History), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 177:

(historical) The ritually established and sacred formal boundary of the territory of a Roman city; the territory thus bound.

Giovanni Paolo Panini
National Museum of Ancient Art

pomério

tract of land denoting the formal, sacral ambit of a Roman city


Electra

From Ancient Greek Ἠλέκτρα (Ēléktra), from ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, “amber”), related to ἠλέκτωρ (ēléktōr, “shining sun”).

(Greek mythology) Any of several mythical women, including a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, one of the Pleiades, and one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys.


Jocasta

(Greek mythology) The mother and wife of Oedipus.


Euclid

From Ancient Greek Εὐκλείδης (Eukleídēs).

An unincorporated community in West Virginia.


cotyle

en-noun

cotyle (plural cotyles or cotylae or cotylai)

cotyles (plural)
cotylae (plural)
cotylai (plural)

From Latin cotylē and Ancient Greek κοτύλη (kotúlē, “cup, half-pint”). Doublet of kotyle and kotylos.

der

[…] which is often falsely called Corinthian, but is really either Attic or Attico-Boeotian: the vases are mostly cups like this, or cotylai: a few examples, the cups Athens 649 and 1106, the cup B.M. 1920, 2-16, 1, and a cotyle in Cambridge.

1973, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, volumes 47–48, page 148:

(chiefly historical) Alternative form of kotyle (“cantharus, a kind of ancient Greek and Roman cup”).

kotyle

Again, they give the patient a cotyle of hulwort, clary seed, or caper root with half a drachm of squill; or an acetabulum of germander or thyme in three cyathi of oxymel; or two cotylae of alexanders seed with three cyathi of wine; or a cotyle of fennel seed and libanotis (Latin rosmarinum, ‘rosemary’) mixed with wine; or a drachm of gum ammoniac with three cyathi of oxymel.

1950, Caelius Aurelianus, translated by Israel Edward Drabkin, On Acute Diseases and On Chronic Diseases, University of Chicago Press, page 749:

(historical) Synonym of hemina (“a unit of Roman liquid measure”)

(zootomy) Synonym of acetabulum (“any of various cup-shaped joints, organs, or skin features in various animals”).


Aleppo

From Italian Aleppo, from French Alep, from Ottoman Turkish حلب (Haleb, vulg. Halep), from Arabic حَلَب (ḥalab), of uncertain origin. Theorized to be from Arabic حَلَبَ (ḥalaba, “gave out milk”), coming from the ancient tradition that Abraham gave milk to travelers as they moved throughout the region. Attested in Akkadian as 𒌷𒄩𒆷𒀊𒆠 (ᵁᴿᵁḫa-la-abᴷᴵ, “Ḫalab/Ḫalap”), Hittite 𒄬𒉺 (Ḥalpa), Ugaritic 𐎈𐎍𐎁 (ḥlb), Aramaic חלב (Ḥlb), Old Armenian Խաղաբ (Xałab), Ancient Greek Χαλιβών (Khalibṓn), and Classical Syriac ܚܰܠܰܒ (Ḥalpa).

The capital city of Aleppo Governorate, Syria


metropolite

Latin metropolita, from Ancient Greek μητροπολίτης (mētropolítēs).

uder

μητροπολίτης

(Ancient Greece) A citizen of a metropolis.


tower of silence

en-noun

tower of silence (plural towers of silence)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tower of silence.wav

Calque of French tour du silence, from the fact that human voices are generally not heard at such places.

(Zoroastrianism) A low, cylindrical, open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate from exposure and consumption by carrion birds such as vultures, the remaining bones being kept in an ossuary.

بُرْج الصَّمْت

low, cylindrical open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate


Parsi

Borrowed from Gujarati પારસી (pārsī), "as the Gujaratis, from long tradition, called anyone from Iran", from Sanskrit पारसि (pārasi), पारसिक (pārasika), from Middle Persian [Term?].
The Indian term is attested many centuries prior to the arrival of the Parsis on the Indian subcontinent, and appears both for Iranians generally, as well as in the specific Iranian sense of Middle Persian parsi(k) ("of, or pertaining to, Persia proper") to refer to Sassanian kings, e.g. in the 4th-century Mahabharata. The Indian term is thus conventionally assumed to be ultimately a loanword from Middle Persian (or general Middle Iranian) parsi(k). In colonial times the term was also applied to the Portuguese, and by extension to Europeans in general.
Older texts have pārasā́rya "Perso-Iranian", etc. Other Iranian ethnonyms found in the Mahabharata include Sanskrit pahlava, pahnava "Parthian(s)", sāka "(eastern) Scythian(s)", bāhlika "Bactrian(s)".

A member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent.


saturnal

From Latin saturnalis, itself from the Roman god Saturnus + -alis '-al'.

This increased period extends in the trans-Saturnal sphere of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

2004, Mantak Chia, Dirk Oellibrandt, Taoist Astral Healing: Chi Kung Healing Practices Using Star and Planet Energies, →ISBN, page 92:

(Roman mythology, astrology) Of or pertaining to the Ancient Roman god Saturn or to the corresponding planetary entity in astrology.


Mimas

From Ancient Greek Μίμᾱς (Mímās), earlier Μίμανς (Mímans).

(Greek mythology) A son of Gaia; one of the Gigantes.


Byzantism

The study, or the use of elements of the Byzantine culture

bizantinismo

study or use of elements of the Byzantine culture


politeia

/ˌpɒlɪˈtiːə/

From Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “city, state, system of government”). Doublet of police and policy.

bor

(historical, Ancient Greece) citizenship


Hagia Sophia

/ˈhɑːɡiə soʊˈfiə/

From Byzantine Greek and Ancient Greek Ἁγία Σοφία (Hagía Sophía, “Holy Wisdom”). Compare Sofia, Sophia.

A mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, (historical) the former patriarchal church of Greek Orthodoxy, operated as a museum 1935–2020.

Ajasofja

a former basilica, now a mosque in Turkey


senet

Borrowed from Egyptian znt — hieroglyphs: z:n-t:N24The full name of the game in Egyptian was znt nt ḥꜥb, which means "game of passing".
Compare with Coptic ⲥⲓⲛⲉ (sine, “passing, afternoon”).

cog

An Ancient Egyptian board game, probably played as a strategy game similar to chess or go.


Hyacinthus

/ˌhaɪəˈsɪnθəs/

From Latin Hyacinthus, from Ancient Greek Ὑάκινθος (Huákinthos).

(Greek mythology) A Spartan youth loved and accidentally killed by Apollo. The flower hyacinth sprang from his blood.

Հիակինթոս

a Spartan youth loved and accidentally killed by Apollo


philerast

/ˈfɪləˌɹæst/

From Ancient Greek φιλεραστής (philerastḗs), from φίλ(ος) (phíl(os), “dear”, “friend”) or φιλ(έω) (phil(éō), “I love”) + ἐραστής (erastḗs, “lover”) (compare the English cognates phil- + erast(es)); φιλεραστής (philerastḗs) was used by Plato in his Symposium as an alternative to ἐρώμενος (erṓmenos, “eromenos”), to imply greater equitability and reciprocity and to avoid the latter term’s denotational passivity.

When in turn they reach man’s estate they love youths themselves[; i]n general terms such people are either paiderasts or philerasts, being always attracted by kindred kind. But when a boy-lover, or any other, chances to meet his own original half, they are both seized with an ecstasy of affection and intimacy and love, and can hardly bear to be separated for as much as a single instant from each other.

[…] “while they are still boys [i.e., pubescent or pre-adult], they are fond of men, and enjoy lying down together with them and twining their limbs about them, . . . but when they become men they are lovers of boys. . . . Such a man is a paederast and philerast [i.e., fond of or responsive to adult male lovers]” at different stages of his life […]

1990, David M. Halperin, One hundred years of homosexuality: and other essays on Greek love, page 20:

1997: “Leo”, uk.politics.misc (Google group): Broome House: Paedophiles, the 31st day of August at 8 o’clock a.m.
[The Ancient Greeks] also had a word which can be rendered ‘philerast’, meaning a boy who loves his lover.

Milton strained to redefine marriage as the friendship Socrates recommended — an erotics beyond the sexual. As a result, his notion of marriage sometimes looks a lot like a heteroerotic paederasty, with Adam as the paederast and Eve the philerast destined never to outgrow the role of student and beloved.

2005, Thomas H. Luxon, Single Imperfection: Milton, Marriage, and Friendship, page 140:

For more examples of the usage of this term see this entry’s citations page as well as the citations page for philerast.

(chiefly in historical usage pertaining to Ancient Greece) A boy who feels philia or more specifically anterōs, for his paederastic lover.

beloved

the junior partner in a paederastic relationship


Priam

Anglicized version of Latin Priamus, from the Ancient Greek Πρίαμος (Príamos).

(Greek mythology) The king of Troy during the Iliad


imbrex

(archaeology) A roof tile common in Ancient Greek and Roman architecture, used in an overlapping formation with the tegula.


xenelasia

Unadapted borrowing from Ancient Greek ξενηλᾰσῐ́ᾱ (xenēlăsĭ́ā, “expulsion of foreigners”); see further at xenelasy.

ubor

(Ancient Greece, historical) Synonym of xenelasy (“the practice of expelling foreigners in Doric Crete and Lacedaemonia”)


Cyrene

From Latin Cyrene, from Ancient Greek Κυρήνη (Kurḗnē), of uncertain origin. Classical sources considered the Thessalian demigod the etymon for the Libyan city. Modern scholars variously derive the name from the Libyan spring Κύρα (Kúra) or, noting the myth attested before the spring or city, consider an existing Proto-Berber name to have been conflated with the Thessalian myths by early Greek colonists.

(Greek mythology) A Thessalian princess and huntress demigod, companion of Artemis and lover of Apollo.


cleruchy

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κληρουχία (klēroukhía), from κληροῦχος (klēroûkhos, “cleruch”); see cleruch.

(historical, Ancient Greece) A form of Athenian colony in the time of Ancient Greece, under which the settlers or cleruchs retained their citizenship, and were assigned plots, or kleroi, of agricultural land, while the community remained a political dependency of Athens.


cist

Borrowed from Latin cista, from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē). Doublet of chest.

(historical, Ancient Greece) A small receptacle for sacred utensils carried in festivals in Ancient Greece.


Proto-Romance

The reconstructed ancestor of all the Romance languages.


Nisibis

From Latin Nisibis, from Ancient Greek Νίσιβις (Nísibis), from Aramaic ܢܨܝܼܒܝܼܢ (Nəṣīḇīn).

(historical) Synonym of Nusaybin, a city in southeastern Turkey.


Enyo

(Greek mythology) Goddess of violent war, acting as a counterpart and companion to the war god Ares. Identified with Bellona in Roman mythology.


Cadmus

Via Latin Cadmus, from Ancient Greek Κάδμος (Kádmos).

(Greek mythology) A Phoenician prince, son of king Agenor of Tyre. Was sent by his royal parents to seek and return his sister Europa after being abducted from Phoenicia by Zeus. Credited with founding Greek city of Thebes and inventing Greek alphabet.


Annona

(Roman mythology) A Roman goddess personifying the yearly harvest.


Smyrna

From Ancient Greek Σμύρνα (Smúrna), a variant spelling of Σμύρνη (Smúrnē), the Ionic Greek form of the original Aeolic Greek name Μύρρᾱ (Múrrhā, “Smyrna”). Doublet of Izmir.

A former settlement in Kern County, California.

A city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States.

Aroostook County
Aroostook County#English

A small town in Aroostook County, Maine.

An unincorporated community in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.

A town and village in Chenango County, New York.

A locality in Carteret County, North Carolina.


lingula

From Latin lingula (“tonguelet, small unit of volume”), from lingua (“tongue”) + -ula (“-ule: forming diminutives”).

bor

(historical) A Roman unit of liquid measure reckoned as the volume of 5/12 Roman ounce of wine, equivalent to about 11 mL.

congius (144 lingulas) urna (1152 lingulas)


Assyriology

The study of the ancient Assyrian language and culture.

ասուրագիտություն

study of the Assyrian language and culture


pre-Socratic

/ˌpɹiːsɒˈkɹætɪk/

(historical) Existing in Ancient Greece before the flourishing of the philosopher Socrates (circa 469–399 BCE).

presocratisch

related to the pre-Socratic philosophers


Areopagus

/æɹiˈɒpəɡəs/

From Ancient Greek Ἄρειος Πάγος (Áreios Págos, literally “Rock of Ares”), which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens.

Ἄρειος Πάγος

When the great emergencies of the state required his presence and attention, he was engaged in conversation with the philosopher Plotinus, wasting his time in trifling or licentious pleasures, preparing his initiation to the Grecian mysteries, or soliciting a place in the Areopagus of Athens.

1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter X, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:

(Ancient Greece) The supreme judicial and legislative council of ancient Athens.


Dikê

Dolos and Dikê in Sophokles’ Elektra

2001: Leona MacLeod, Dolos and Dikê in Sophokles’ Elektra, volume 219, main title (Brill; →ISBN, 9789004118980)

(historical, Greek mythology) The goddess personifying the principle of justice.


congius

From Latin congius, from Ancient Greek κογχίον (konkhíon), from κόγχη (kónkhē) and κόγχος (kónkhos, “mussel shell”) + -ίον (-íon, “-y: forming diminutives”).

(historical) A Roman unit of mass instituted by Vespasian equivalent to about 3.3 kg, the weight of a congius of water.


Hammurabi

From Akkadian 𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉 (Ḫammurapi), from the Amorite ʿAmmurāpi, a compound *ʿammu (“father”) + *āpi (“healer”).


Nicaea

From Latin Nīcaea, from Ancient Greek Νίκαια (Níkaia), for Nicaea wife of Lysimachus, from νίκη (níkē, “victory”) + -ια (-ia, “-ia: forming feminine names”). Doublet of Iznik and Nice.

(historical) Former name of Iznik, a city in Turkey famed for the AD 325 church council that composed the Nicene Creed.

Lysimachus
Nicaea (city)
Nicaea of Macedon


Juno Moneta

From New Latin Juno Moneta, varient of Classical Latin Iūnō Monēta, from Iuno (“Juno”), queen of the Roman gods equated with the Greek Hera, and Moneta, of uncertain etymology. The name has been popularly derived from monēre (“to advise or warn”) since antiquity with reference to various events in Roman legend and history, but modern archeology seems to show the worship of a goddess Moneta elsewhere in Italy prior to her introduction to Rome (cf. evocatio) in 344 BC. The connection to coinage and money derived from her temple's use to house the state mint until a fire around AD 84. Cognate with money and monetary.

(Roman mythology) Synonym of Juno, particularly as a patron of the state mint and Roman coinage.

Iūnō Monēta

Juno as advisor, warner, or patron of minting


tribunician

en-adj

tribunician (comparative more tribunician, superlative most tribunician)

more tribunician (comparative)
most tribunician (superlative)

In Rome, the crucial step is taken of offering Octavian the tribunician powers for life: tribunes had personal immunity and important powers of veto.

2007, John Burrow, A History of Histories, Penguin, published 2009, page 123:

(Ancient Rome) Pertaining to a Roman tribune.


Calydon

(historical, Greek mythology) The legendary founding king and eponym of the city of Calydon, whose failure to honor the goddess Artemis in a rite resulted in her sending the Calydonian Boar to lay waste to the city.


Parmenides

From Ancient Greek Παρμενίδης (Parmenídēs).

An Ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, in southern Italy. Founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy.


Anaxagoras

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀναξαγόρας (Anaxagóras).

An ancient Greek philosopher (c. 500 BCE – 428 BCE) from Clazomenae, who is famous for introducing the cosmological concept of nous (mind), as an ordering force.


Iphigenia

/ˌɪfɪd͡ʒɪˈnaɪə/

/ˌɪfɪˈd͡ʒiːnɪə/

From Ancient Greek Ῑ̓φιγένεια (Īphigéneia).

If we are convinced by the way the Iphigenia myth reworks and distorts the structure of the Metis myth, then we gain a new understanding of the logic underlying Athena's refusal to acknowledge the crime against Iphigenia.

2007, Amber Jacobs, On Matricide: Myth, Psychoanalysis, and the Law of the Mother, page 161:

The founding of the sanctuary at Braurona is related to the myths of Iphigenia and her brother, Orestes.

2008, Allan Brooks, Myths, Games and Conflict, page 8:

One such involuntary sacrifice is found in the story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, the famous Greek king and warrior.

2013, Willie Young, “4: Taking One for the Team: Baseball and Sacrifice”, in Eric Bronson, William Irwin, editors, Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter's Box, page 63:

(Greek mythology) The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, who is sacrificed by her father to ensure the safe journey of the Greeks to Troy.


Memnon

(Greek mythology) An Ethiopian king and son of Tithonus and Eos. Considered a great warrior, he fought on the side of Troy and was killed by Achilles.


Zeno

Via Latin Zēnō, from Ancient Greek Ζήνων (Zḗnōn), an ancient derivative of Ζεύς (Zeús), from Proto-Hellenic *dzéus, from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws. Modern scientific and philosophical use derives from Zeno of Elea, poser of Zeno's paradoxes.


proxenos

From Ancient Greek πρόξενος (próxenos, “public guest”), from πρό (pró, “before (in preference)”) (whence English pro-) + ξένος (xénos, “recipient of hospitality”, “guest”, “stranger”) (whence English xen-, -xeny); compare proxenus; unrelated to either Latin proximus, English proxy, or their derivations.

uder

(Ancient Greece, historical) A citizen of a state appointed by another state to host its ambassadors and to represent and protect its interests there.


Assyriological

en-adj

Assyriological (comparative more Assyriological, superlative most Assyriological)

more Assyriological (comparative)
most Assyriological (superlative)


Cyrenaicism

This reads like an avowal of Epicureanism or of the more selfish philosophy of pleasure known as Cyrenaicism.

1882 August, Contemporary Review, p. 214

(usually derogatory) Synonym of hedonism, particularly (ethics, chiefly historical) the specific beliefs of the philosophical school of Aristippus of Cyrene, advocating pursuit of sensual pleasure as the highest good.


genius loci

head

genius loci (plural genii loci or genii locorum)

genii loci (plural)
genii locorum (plural)

jēʹnyəs lōʹkī

jēʹnyəs lōʹsī

/ˈɡɛnɪˌʊs ˈloʊki/

jēʹnyəs lōʹkī

jēʹnyəs lōʹsī

/ˈɡɛnɪˌʊs ˈləʊki/

Learned borrowing from Latin genius loci (“tutelary deity of a/the place”), from the singular genitive form of locus (“place”).

lbor

(Roman mythology) The minor deity or spirit watching over a particular place.


Salian

From Latin Salianus, from Salii + -ānus (“-an: forming adjectives”), from salīre (“to jump, to leap”) + -īus (“-y: forming adjectives”).

(historical) A member of the Salii, the chief priests of Mars in ancient Rome.


Salian

en-adj

Salian (comparative more Salian, superlative most Salian)

more Salian (comparative)
most Salian (superlative)

(historical) Of or related to the Salii, the priests of Mars in ancient Rome.


Salian

From Latin Salianus, from Salii + -ānus (“-an: forming adjectives”), from Sala (“the IJssel River”) + -īus (“-y: forming adjectives”). Cognate with Salic.

(historical) A person belonging to the German and Frankish tribes near the IJssel River in antiquity.


Salian

(historical) Of or related to the Salii, the Salian people.


epiclesis

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐπίκλησις (epíklēsis, “invocation”).

lbor

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A particular appearance or aspect of a deity.


Callirrhoë

(Greek mythology) A naiad, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.


Erebuni

From Urartian 𒌷𒅕𒁍𒌑𒉌 (ᵁᴿᵁer-bu-u₂-ni /Er(e)buni/).

bor

a fortification and city of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, located on the hill Arin Berd in modern-day Yerevan, capital of Armenia; founded in 782 BC by king Argishti I


abaton

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄβατον (ábaton), nominalized neuter form of ἄβατος (ábatos, “inaccessible”).

(historical) In Ancient Greece, an enclosure in the temple of Asclepios where patients slept.


Khnum

bor+

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">ẖnmw</i>

One of the earliest Egyptian gods. He is said to be the source of the Nile River.


Ptah

(Egyptian mythology) A god of creativity and craftsmen, sometimes also identified with the gods of death and the birth of the sun.


Circe

(Greek mythology) An enchantress who turned Odysseus's men into pigs.


phratry

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
From Latin phrātria, from Ancient Greek φρατρία (phratría, “tribe, clan”), from φράτηρ (phrátēr) + -ία (-ía).

uder

To be sure, he plays a decisive role at the time of the birth, since he confers on the child legitimacy, at least on the son, by taking him in his arms, walking him around the house and declaring him his son in front of the members of his phratry: in Athens, no one may obtain citizenship without these familial rites.

2016, Keith Cohen, translating Maurice Sartre, in Corbin, Courtine & Vigarello (Eds.), A History of Virility, Columbia University Press 2016, p. 40

(Ancient Greece) A clan or kinship group consisting of a number of families claiming descent from a common ancestor and having certain collective functions and responsibilities.


Hyllus

(Greek mythology) The son of Heracles and Deianira


woodnymph

(Greek mythology) A nymph residing in a forest, a dryad.


Book of the Dead

A calque of German Todtenbuch (der Ägypter), used by Karl Richard Lepsius in his 1842 publication describing the text.

calque

An ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom consisting of spells to assist the journey of the dead into the afterlife, developed from the earlier Coffin Texts.


paludamentum

The horse was not in the least like a Greek horse (nor even a Trojan), and F.M. the Duke of Wellington was not represented with the ensis or short sword in his grasp, the chlamys flying from his shoulder, or the paludamentum, as more suitable for the cool of the English climate (totidem divisos orbe &c.), the kothornos on his leg, the galea slung at the crupper? no reins, and his naked nether-man, not (as in these precious models) seated on the bare back of the bull-necked, square-jawed, dray-limbed steed.

1847, “The Wellington Statue”, in The Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c., London, page 523, column 2:

(historical, Ancient Rome) A military cloak worn by a general and his principal officers, fastened at one shoulder.


Panic

en-adj

Panic (comparative more Panic, superlative most Panic)

more Panic (comparative)
most Panic (superlative)

(Greek mythology, archaic) Synonym of Pandean (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”)


Pannonia

Borrowed from Latin Pannonia, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pen- (“moist; wet; mud; swamp; water”), thus meaning “fenland”.

der

A province of the Roman Empire in the western part of modern Hungary and adjacent regions.


armilla

Borrowed from Latin armilla. Doublet of armill.

(Ancient Rome) An armband awarded as a military decoration in Ancient Rome.


parabasis

Borrowed from Ancient Greek παράβασις (parábasis).

(historical, Ancient Greece) The part of an Ancient Greek comedy in which the actors leave the stage and the chorus addresses the audience directly.


Persepolis

From Latin Persepolis, from Ancient Greek Περσέπολις (Persépolis), from Πέρσης (Pérsēs, “Persian”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”), from Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 (Pārsa, “Persis, Persia, a Persian, Persepolis”) although ancient Greek writers relate a folk etymology that derived the city, country, and people's name from Ancient Greek πέρθειν (pérthein, “to sack, to kill”).

(historical) The ceremonial capital city of Achaemenid Persia; its ruins in the present day.

بِرْسِيبُولِيس

ancient city of Persia; its modern ruins


Aten

(Egyptology) The deified disc of the sun, as an aspect of Re or as the sole God under Akhenaten.