Δαρεῖος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• Δᾱ́ρειος (Dā́reios)
• Δᾱρειαῖος (Dāreiaîos)
• Δαριήκης (Dariḗkēs)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Persian 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎢𐏁 (d-a-r-y-u-š /⁠Dārayauš⁠/), shortened form of 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 (d-a-r-y-v-u-š /⁠Dārayavaʰuš⁠/, literally “holding firm what is good”), from *dar- (“to hold (firmly)”) + *vahu- (“good”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /daː.rêː.os/ → /ðaˈri.os/ → /ðaˈri.os/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /daː.rêː.os/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /daˈri.os/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðaˈri.os/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðaˈri.os/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðaˈri.os/

Proper noun

Δᾱρεῖος • (Dāreîos) m (genitive Δᾱρείου); second declension

1. Darius
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.1.1:

     Δαρείου καὶ Παρυσάτιδος γίγνονται παῖδες δύο, πρεσβύτερος μὲν Ἀρταξέρξης, νεώτερος δὲ Κῦρος.

     Dareíou kaì Parusátidos gígnontai paîdes dúo, presbúteros mèn Artaxérxēs, neṓteros dè Kûros.

     Darius and Parysatis had two sons born to them: the older was Artaxerxes, the younger Cyrus.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ Δᾱρεῖος; τοῦ Δᾱρείου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Δᾱρεῖος ho Dāreîos
Genitive	τοῦ Δᾱρείου toû Dāreíou
Dative	τῷ Δᾱρείῳ tôi Dāreíōi
Accusative	τὸν Δᾱρεῖον tòn Dāreîon
Vocative	Δᾱρεῖε Dāreîe
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: Δαρείος (Dareíos)
• Latin: Dārīus
  • → English: Darius
  • → Italian: Dario
  • → Portuguese: Dario
  • → Spanish: Darío

References

• “Δαρεῖος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Δαρεῖος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Δαρεῖος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Δαρεῖος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,008