Everyday LifeGreek → English
Demetrius
/dɪˈmiːtriəs/proper noun
A Greek personal name, borne by Hellenistic kings, saints and characters in Shakespeare.
The Greek roots
Δημήτηρ
Dēmḗtēr
Demeter, goddess of grain
-ιος
-ios
belonging to
Literally: “devoted to Demeter”
The story of the word
The goddess's own name is half clear and half not: the -μήτηρ is mother beyond doubt, while the first syllable has been read as earth, as grain, and as a Doric form of unknown sense, with no agreement. Demetrius I of Macedon was nicknamed Poliorcetes, the Besieger, for siege engines that mostly failed. In Greece the name is everywhere as Δημήτρης, and 26 October, the feast of Saint Demetrius, is the city holiday of Thessaloniki.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
DemeterDimitrimetropolis
In a sentence
Demetrius spends most of A Midsummer Night's Dream chasing the wrong person.