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νέμεσις

Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word νέμεσις

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Homer, Iliad
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*nem-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek νέμεσις
English nemesis

Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /né.me.sis/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈne.me.sis/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈne.me.sis/[1]

Forms

νέμεσῐς (némesis) f (genitive νεμέσεως); third declension[1] Epic dative νεμέσσι.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to distribute, allot”) + -σις (-sis),[1][4][5] a noun in -σις like γένεσις (génesis) and Λάχεσις (Lákhesis), with a stem νεμε- made after such words.[4][5][6] Its proper meaning would be “(just) allotment, imputation”, which may still show in the epic phrase οὐ νέμεσις, “one cannot hold it against someone”.[4][5]

νέμω (némō) continues Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to allot; to take”), which agrees best with Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman, “to take”) and Latvian ņemt (“to take”).[4][7][1] LIV separates a second root *nem- “to bow”, found in Sanskrit and Tocharian.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is human indignation at a wrong, never that of the gods: Telemachus fears “blame from men”, and the Greeks are urged to put shame and νέμεσις in their hearts.[2][8] Οὐ νέμεσις means “it is no cause for blame”: it is no blame to the Trojans and Achaeans to suffer so long for such a woman.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod personifies Nemesis together with Aidos (Shame).[2][9] Later the word was used of the anger of the gods: in Herodotus “a great nemesis from god” seized Croesus after Solon left him, and Sophocles speaks of the nemesis of the gods.[2][6] Aristotle defines it as indignation at undeserved good fortune, the mean between envy and malice.[2][3]

As a goddess, Nemesis is the personification of divine retribution, in Pindar and especially in tragedy and later writers as the avenger of the dead.[2] Demosthenes mentions the Nemesia, her festival, inscriptions her temple, and Pausanias tells of two Nemeses worshipped at Smyrna.[4][2]

In Modern Greek νέμεση (némesi) is divine punishment of those who break the moral law, and the goddess Nemesis.[10][6]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for human indignation.[2][8]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod personifies Nemesis with Aidos.[2][9]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar names the goddess Nemesis.[2][9]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus tells how the nemesis of god struck Croesus.[2][9]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle defines it as indignation at undeserved good fortune.[2][9]
  • 2nd century AD – Pausanias describes two Nemeses at Smyrna.[2][9]
  • Modern Greek – νέμεση is divine punishment.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Righteous indignation, blame, resentment at a wrong.[2][3]
  2. οὐ νέμεσις, “it is no cause for blame”.[2][8]
  3. Divine retribution, the anger of the gods.[2][3]
  4. (Aristotle) Indignation at undeserved good or bad fortune.[2][3]
  5. (personified) Nemesis, goddess of retribution.[2]

Word family

  • νεμεσάω (nemesáō)
  • νεμεσητός (nemesētós)
  • νεμεσίζομαι (nemesízomai)
  • νέμησις (némēsis)
  • νόμος (nómos)
  • English nemesis

Usage notes

In Homer αἰδώς, one's own sense of shame, is paired with νέμεσις, the indignation of others.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  7. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  8. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  9. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Νέμεσις.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%BD%CE%AD%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B9%CF%82. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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