μῖμος

Forms

μῖμος (mîmos) m (genitive μῑ́μου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The word has no etymology;^[2] Beekes thinks a Pre-Greek origin quite possible, from Pre-Greek, and Wiktionary calls it probably a Pre-Greek loan.^[2][1] Its technical meaning makes a loanword likely.^[2][3] Although μῖμος is rare and late beside the verb μιμέομαι (miméomai, “to imitate”), the verb is most probably a denominative built on the noun.^[2]

The old comparison with Sanskrit माया (māyā́), which Frisk, following Schulze, rendered as “magic image, phantom”, is now set aside: in its earliest uses the Sanskrit word means magic power or skill, not an image.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instance is a fragment of Aeschylus, where it means an imitator, of the instrument that mimics the roar of bulls; the CGL notes that it may mean an imitation there.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Rhesus transmitted with Euripides' plays it is the act of imitating, of a man disguised as a four-footed beast.^[4][5] Demosthenes uses it scornfully of the performers of comic turns.^[5][4] Aristotle's Poetics names the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus, a dramatic genre of character sketches from everyday life;^[4][5] Sophron of Syracuse wrote them in Doric prose, in “male” and “female” mimes.^[4][6][7] The mime actor performed without a mask, in booths, theatres and at festivals; the word could mean the actor or the play.^[7]

In Roman contexts Plutarch uses it of actors of ill repute, also of women.^[5] It was borrowed as Latin mīmus, the source of English mime, recorded from about 1600.^[2][8][9] Coptic borrowed it too.^[10] Modern Greek μίμος (mímos), a learned form, is a mime artist or the ancient genre.^[11][3] Richard Dawkins coined English meme in 1976 from Greek mimeme, shortened to echo gene.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for an imitator.^[4][5][3]
• 5th century BC – The Rhesus uses it for the imitation of an animal's posture.^[5][12]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for comic performers, and Aristotle for the mime as a dramatic form.^[4][5][13]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for actors, also of women.^[5][4][13]
• c. 1600 – English borrows mime from French and Latin.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An imitator, mimic.^[4][5]
2. An act of imitating, an imitation.^[5]
3. A mime, a dramatic sketch imitating scenes of everyday life.^[5][4]
4. A performer of comic routines; an actor, especially a mime actor; also of women.^[5][4]
5. (figurative) In “life is a mime”, a saying attributed to Cleobulus.^[4]

Word family

• μιμάς (mimás)
• μιμέομαι (mīméomai)
• μίμησις (mī́mēsis)
• μιμικός (mīmikós)
• μιμῳδός (mimōidós)

Related words

• Latin mīmus
• English mime
• English meme

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
7. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
13. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge