hercules
/ˈhɝːkjəliːz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.60 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The Roman name for the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Jupiter and Alcmene, a celebrated hero who possessed exceptional strength. Most famous for his twelve labours performed to redeem himself after killing his family.
name
A summer constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble the mythical hero, lying between the constellations Lyra and Corona Borealis.
name
noun
noun
A man with Herculean attributes.
Example Sentences
- "THere were many Hercules'''’s, but (as Tully ſays, de Nat. Deor. lib. 3.) the famous Actions of them all are aſcrib’d to him who was the Son of Jupiter, by Alcmena, the Wife of Amphitryo King of Thebes."
- "THere were many Hercules'''’s amongſt the Antients; Varro enumerates Forty four. The moſt famous were, Hercules Marguſanus, Hercules Ogmius, who was the Symbol of Eloquence amongſt the Gauls; Hercules Pollens, Hercules Thebanus, firſt called Alcides, Hercules' Tyrius, or Egyptian; and there were two of them; the Elder called Melicarthus, or Eſau, the Founder of the City of Tyre; and the Younger, who Subdu’d Geryon, and was Worſhipped in Sidon in Spain."
- "Mr. Sympſon would read Theban, the Story of Omphale being, as he thinks, only applicable to him: But as there were many Hercules'''’s, and among the reſt a Libyan, the Son of Jupiter Ammon; if it is inaccurate, it ſeems the Inaccuracy of a Scholar, and not an Error of the Preſs."
- "Supporters.] Two Herculeſſes, with clubs over their ſhoulders, proper, crined and habited about the middle, or."
- "There were so many Hercules in the Grecian mythology and history, that it was necessary to specify when the principal Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, was meant."
- "Thus he enumerates many Hercules’s, and many Mercury’s; but one part of the history of each is so much the same, that I know not how he could avoid perceiving that they were only two names of one person."
Etymology
From Latin Herculēs, from Etruscan 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), from Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Hēraklês), apparently cognate of Ἥρα (Hḗra, “Hera”) and, according to Haudry, from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”) + κλέος (kléos, “glory”). Doublet of Heracles.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *ḱlew-, Herculēs, 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄, Ἡρακλῆς, *yóh₁r̥
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɝːkjəliːz/
- British English: /ˈhɜːkjəliːz/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.