βροτός

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See also: βρότος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *mrətós, from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥twós or *mr̥tós (dead, mortal), ultimately from the root *mer- (to die). Cognates include Sanskrit मृत (mṛtá), Old Armenian մարդ (mard), Latin mortuus, Old Church Slavonic мрътвъ (mrŭtvŭ), Persian مرد (mard) and Old English morþ.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

βροτός (brotósm or f (genitive βροτοῦ); second declension

  1. (poetic) mortal man, human being (often in plural)
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.32:
      ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται.
      ṑ pópoi, hoîon dḗ nu theoùs brotoì aitióōntai.
      [Zeus:] Alas, how mortals are always blaming the gods.

Usage notes

In Homer, βροτός behaves as if it begins in a single consonant, because it does not make the preceding syllable long. In the example below, εἴπῃσι βροτῶν must be scanned long—long–short–short—long: ει . πηι σι (β)ρο . των. Ordinarily the first consonant in the cluster βρ would close the last syllable of εἴπῃσι and make it long, but this results in an unmetrical rhythm (see dactylic hexameter): ει . πηι σιβ ρο ? των.

  • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.282:
    ἤν τίς τοι εἴπῃσι βροτῶν, ἢ ὄσσαν ἀκούσῃς
    ḗn tís toi eípēisi brotôn, ḕ óssan akoúsēis
    if any of the mortals can tell you [anything], or you can hear a divine rumor

Inflection

Antonyms

Derived terms

See also

References