Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Hoplite
/ˈhɒplaɪt/noun
A heavily armed citizen infantryman of ancient Greece.
The Greek roots
ὅπλον
hóplon
shield, weapon
ὁπλίτης
hoplítēs
armed man
Literally: “the man with the shield”
The story of the word
The soldier is named after his kit rather than his job: ὅπλον was the great round shield, and by extension the equipment. Hoplites fought shoulder to shoulder in the phalanx, each man's shield covering his own left and his neighbour's right, so the line was only as good as its worst-nerved member. They bought their own armour, which made the phalanx a rough census of who could afford to fight.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
panoplyhoplology
In a sentence
A hoplite carried close to twenty kilos of bronze and wood into the line.