Everyday LifeGreek → English
Nicetas
/naɪˈsiːtəs/noun
A male given name, Latinised from Greek, common in the Byzantine world and among Orthodox saints.
The Greek roots
νικητής
nikētḗs
victor, winner
νίκη
níkē
victory
Literally: “the victor”
The story of the word
νίκη is what a runner takes home from the games and what the winged goddess brings, and Greek turned it into names on an industrial scale: Nikolaos, Nikephoros, Berenice, Eunice. The best-known bearer is Niketas Choniates, the Byzantine official whose account of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 describes crusaders melting down the bronzes of Constantinople for coin. He wrote it as a refugee, having lost his own house in the fire.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
NicholasBereniceEunice
In a sentence
The monastery keeps an icon of Saint Nicetas the Goth.
Nicetas is the Latin form of the Greek name Niketas.