Everyday LifeGreek → English
Lysander
/laɪˈsændər/proper noun
A male given name, carried by the Spartan admiral who ended the Peloponnesian War.
The Greek roots
λύω
lýō
to loose, release
ἀνήρ
anḗr
man
Literally: “releaser of men”
The story of the word
Lysander broke Athens at Aegospotami in 405 BC and, Xenophon says, pulled down the Long Walls to the sound of flute girls. Shakespeare handed the name to one of the lovers in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Royal Air Force later gave it to the small high-winged aircraft that put agents into occupied France. The first element is the λύ- of analysis, a loosening apart.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
analysisparalysiscatalystAlexander
In a sentence
A Lysander could land in a field on three torches and be gone in four minutes.