Everyday LifeGreek → English
Alexis
/əˈlɛksɪs/noun
A given name, used in English for boys and increasingly for girls.
The Greek roots
ἀλέξειν
aléxein
to ward off, defend
Literally: “defender”
Follow a root:ἀλέξειν4 words
The story of the word
The verb means to fend something off, which is why Heracles carried the epithet ἀλεξίκακος, averter of evil. Alexander is built from the same verb plus ἀνήρ, defender of men. There was a comic poet named Alexis working in Athens in the fourth century BC, and later a Saint Alexis whose legend carried the name across medieval Europe.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
AlexanderAlexandraAlexandriaalexipharmic
In a sentence
Alexis signs her name with a long looping x.