Everyday LifeGreek → English
Methodius
/mɪˈθəʊdiəs/noun
A masculine given name, borne above all by the ninth-century missionary who with his brother Cyril evangelised the Slavs.
The Greek roots
μετά
metá
after, along
ὁδός
hodós
way, road
Literally: “following the road”
The story of the word
The name is the noun μέθοδος, a pursuit or a following-after along a road, which English took as method. Methodius and Cyril devised the Glagolitic alphabet to write Slavonic, and the Cyrillic script later built on their work carries the brother's name rather than his. He was born Michael and took Methodius on becoming a monk, so the name was chosen, not inherited.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
methodexodusperiodsynod
In a sentence
Cyril and Methodius are commemorated across the Slavic world on 24 May.