διάδημα

Forms

δῐᾰ́δημᾰ (diádēma) n (genitive δῐᾰδήμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek διαδέω (diadéō, “to bind round”) with the result-noun suffix -μα (-ma),^[1][2][3] the verb being made of διά (diá, “through, across”) and δέω (déō, “to bind”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Xenophon's Cyropaedia first records it, of the band that Cyrus wore round his tiara.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The band round the tiara was the mark of the Persian king, and Alexander adopted it, together with the Macedonian felt hat, and his successors wore it, so that the διάδημα became the sign of kingship generally.^[2][6][3][8] The New Pauly notes that the term first covered any band worn round the head, as distinct from a wreath, and that diadems marked dignity, especially in cult.^[9] The Septuagint uses it for a crown and for the royal headband of Esther, and in Revelation the dragon and the beast wear diadems.^[10][8] A Pharaonic title was rendered “lord of the diadem”, and the phrase was later applied to Byzantine emperors.^[6]

It was borrowed as Latin diadema, the source, partly through Old French, of English diadem (about 1300).^[11][12] Medieval Greek kept it for a royal crown, and it remains the learned Modern Greek διάδημα (diádima).^[13][14][4]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for the band on the Persian king's tiara.^[2][6]
• 2nd century BC – An inscription from Pergamon records a diadem for Antiochus IV.^[2][6]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint's Esther and 1 Maccabees use it for a royal diadem.^[7][10]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus uses it of kings generally.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Revelation uses it for the diadems of the dragon and the beast.^[8]
• 2nd century AD – Arrian describes the diadem Alexander wore.^[2][6]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for a royal crown.^[13]
• About 1300 – English borrows diadem through Old French and Latin.^[12]
• Modern Greek – The learned διάδημα (diádima) continues the word.^[14][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A band or fillet worn round the head.^[2][9]
2. The royal headband round the Persian king's tiara, later worn by Alexander and the Hellenistic kings; a diadem, a symbol of kingship.^[2][3][8]
3. (Koine) A crown.^[10][13]
4. Osiris' diadem, a name of the plant ἅλιμος (hálimos).^[2]

Related words

• διαδέω (diadéō)
• δέω (déō)
• Latin diadema
• English diadem

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki