Hermione

See also Hermionë

English

Alternative forms

• Hermionë

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek Ἑρμῐόνη (Hermionē, “Hermione”, “Ermioni”), probably named after the god Hermes.

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: hûrmīʹənĭ, IPA: /hɜːˈmaɪənɪ/, SAMPA: /h3:"maI@nI/

Proper noun

Hermione

1. (Greek mythology) Daughter of Helen and Menelaus, wife of Orestes.
   • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale: Act III, Scene II:

     Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, King of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason

2. A female given name of mostly British usage.
   • 2002 March 7ᵗʰ (12:31pm), “Sirius Black” (user name), alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet newsgroup), “Re: JKR is wrong!”, Message ID: <3C875D3D.19C1F3FE@somewhere.net>

     Some literature uses a diaeresis over the e to show that it is pronounced: so Bronte, Terpsichore, Hermione, could be written as Brontë, Terpsichorë, Hermionë, but since diaereses take effort to put in there on English keyboards, writers typically leave out the optional, yet helpful, diacritical mark. I think Hermionë is a rather learnèd [ooh-another diacritical mark] girl and will decide to use the diaeresis when writing her name; when people ask why, it will give her opportunity to say “So you’ll pronounce my name correctly, ninny.”