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μεγάθυμος

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word μεγάθυμος

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad More words from the 8th century BC
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μέγας,θυμός
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas)
Ancient Greek μεγάθυμος (megáthumos)
From the same root
Ancient Greek μεγαλόψυχος (megalópsukhos) ← μέγας

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /me.ɡá.tʰyː.mos/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /meˈɣa.θy.mos/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /meˈɣa.θy.mos/[1]

Forms

μεγάθῡμος (megáthūmos) m or f (neuter μεγάθῡμον); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a bahuvrihi compound from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “great”) + θυμός (thūmós, “spirit, heart”), “having a great spirit”.[1][2][3] Πάπυρος compares εὔθυμος (eúthumos) and κακόθυμος (kakóthumos).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it from the first book of the Iliad on as an epithet of heroes and of whole peoples, “great-hearted”.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it is a fixed epithet: of Achilles and other heroes, of the Achaeans and other peoples, of the elders in council, of Athena in the Odyssey, and once of a fiery bull.[2][4] Hesiod's Theogony uses it too.[4] After epic it is rare: three quarters of its occurrences in the GLAUx corpus are Homeric, and an oracle quoted by Phlegon keeps it as an epithet of Athena.[5][4]

Photius and the Lexica Segueriana explain it as μεγαλόψυχος (megalópsukhos), “magnanimous”.[6][7] Modern Greek keeps μεγάθυμος (megáthymos) as a learned, literary word for magnanimous; Πάπυρος also records the sense “patient, enduring”.[8][9][3]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it as an epithet of heroes, peoples, Athena and a bull.[2][4]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it.[4][5][10]
  • 9th century AD – Photius glosses it as “magnanimous”.[6][10]
  • Modern Greek – The learned μεγάθυμος (megáthymos) means magnanimous.[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Great-hearted, high-spirited: an epithet of heroes, peoples and Athena.[4][2][1]
  2. Of an animal, spirited, fiery.[2][3]
  3. (in the lexicographers) Magnanimous.[6][7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  3. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
  7. ^ a b Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
  10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
Cite this entry

“Μεγάθυμος.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%B3%CE%AC%CE%B8%CF%85%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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