Μαυσωλεῖον

Forms

Μαυσωλεῖον (Mausōleîon) n (genitive Μαυσωλείου); second declension^[1] Also written Μαυσσωλεῖον, after the spelling Maussollus of the ruler's name.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek Μαύσωλος (Maúsōlos) + -εῖον (-eîon), with the suffix of places and buildings associated with a person or purpose.^[1][3][4] Mausolus was the ruler of Caria for whom the great tomb at Halicarnassus was built; he governed Caria as a Persian satrap from 377 to 353 BC.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the surviving texts the name is first found in Strabo, who uses it for the tomb Augustus built for himself on the Campus Martius in Rome; the Middle Liddell gives it for the tomb of Mausolus, and as a common noun, a mausoleum.^[6][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The tomb of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia at Halicarnassus, probably completed only in Alexander's time, was counted among the Wonders of the World and gave its name to a whole type of grand funerary building.^[2][5] Strabo and Diodorus describe it, and Lucian already mocks its excess.^[2] The Romans used mausoleum for any sumptuous tomb, as Pausanias and Suetonius show; the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome bore the name.^[2]

English took mausoleum from Latin in the early 15th century.^[8] Modern Greek μαυσωλείο (mafsolío) is a learned word for any magnificent tomb, drawn from the Hellenistic name, with French and English influence.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses it for the tomb of Augustus in Rome.^[6][2]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias uses it in the plural, of grand tombs in general.^[6][2]
• Early 15th century – English mausoleum is recorded, from Latin.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned word μαυσωλείο (mafsolío) means a magnificent tomb.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus.^[7][11][4]
2. Any monumental tomb, a mausoleum.^[7][11][4]

Related words

• Μαύσωλος (Maúsōlos)
• Latin Mausōlēum
• English mausoleum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
5. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
11. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli