κλέος

Forms

κλέος (kléos) n (genitive κλέους); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kléwos,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱléwos (“fame”), an old neuter s-stem of the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).^[2][1] The lost /w/ still shows in Doric κλέϝος (kléwos) on an inscription from Crissa,^[3] and in Mycenaean names such as the possessive adjective Mycenaean Greek e-te-wo-ke-re-we-i-jo, formed from the name Ἐτεοκλῆς (Eteoklês).^[4][5] Within Greek it belongs with κλύω (klúō, “to hear”) and κλέω (kléō, “to make famous”).^[3][6][1]

Cognate with Sanskrit श्रवस् (śrávas, “fame”), Avestan srauuah- (“word”), Old Church Slavonic слово (slovo, “word”) and Old Irish clú (“fame”).^[2][1] The phrase “imperishable fame”, κλέος ἄφθιτον (kléos áphthiton), has a word-for-word match in Sanskrit, and an Illyrian personal name, Ves-cleves, matches a Sanskrit compound meaning “having good fame” and Greek names such as Εὐκλῆς (Euklês).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means first a report or rumour, the news of something heard, such as the rumour of the Achaean expedition in the Iliad, and then the good report of a person, his fame.^[7][3] The plural κλέα ἀνδρῶν (kléa andrôn), means “the famous deeds of men”.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed above all poetic: the epic and lyric poets used it for the renown that outlives a man, and Pindar speaks of winning or carrying off glory.^[3][6] It is less frequent in prose, though Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon and Plato use it, Plato of the “immortal glory” that men seek through great deeds.^[3] It was rarely used in a bad sense, of ill repute.^[3]

In the Septuagint and early Christian writing it is rare: the First Letter of Peter uses it for the credit someone earns.^[8] The grammarian Ammonius distinguished it from δόξα (dóxa): δόξα is the praise of the many, κλέος the praise of the worthy.^[9] It survives as Modern Greek κλέος (kléos), a learned word for glory, often in the plural, of the glories of one's ancestors.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a rumour or report and for a hero's fame.^[7][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony has the plural κλεῖα.^[11][3][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar speaks of winning glory.^[3][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it in prose for renown.^[3][12]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato writes of the immortal glory that people seek.^[3][12]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek κλέος (kléos) survives as a learned word for glory.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rumour, report, news of someone or something.^[3][7]
2. Good report, fame, glory.^[3][6]
3. (in the plural) Glorious deeds, famous exploits.^[6][7]
4. Reputation in general; rarely, ill repute.^[6][3]

Word family

• κλεινός (kleinós)
• κλειτός (kleitós)

Related words

• κλύω (klúō)
• κλέω (kléō)
• Sanskrit श्रवस् (śrávas)

Usage notes

Only the nominative and accusative are in use, singular and plural.^[3][6] Homer has the plural κλέα before a vowel, and Hesiod's text has κλεῖα.^[3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ 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. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge