Words & WritingGreek → English
Erasmus
/ɪˈræzməs/proper noun
A personal name, best known from the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.
The Greek roots
ἐράσμιος
erásmios
lovely, desired
ἐράω
eráō
to love, desire
Literally: “the desired one”
The story of the word
He was christened Erasmus and later added Desiderius, which is the same meaning again in Latin, so his name says "desired" twice over. His 1516 Greek New Testament sent scholars back to the original wording and gave Luther his translation base. The European student exchange scheme borrows his name because he studied and taught in at least five countries.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
eroseroticerastes
In a sentence
Erasmus put the adages of antiquity into a book every schoolmaster owned.
She spent her Erasmus year in Bologna.