Achilles

English

Achilles against Agamemnon, Roman mosaic from Pompeii

Alternative forms

• Achilleus
• Akhilles
• Akhilleus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Achillēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /əˈkɪliːz/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪliːz

Proper noun

Achilles

1. (Greek mythology) A mythical semidivine hero, the son of Peleus by the nereid Thetis, and prince of the Myrmidons, who features in the Iliad as a central character and the foremost warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp.
   • 2005, P. J. Heslin, The Transvestite Achilles: Gender and Genre in Statius' Achilleid, Cambridge University Press, page 277:

     As we saw in the preceding chapter, Statius in the Achilleid revises the Ovidian account of Achilles′ rape of Deidamia.

   • 2012, Richard Holway, Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond‎^[1], Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books), page 153:

     In the last third of the Iliad, Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroklos, and his bitter enemy, Hektor, die wearing Achilles’ armor, their deaths prefiguring Achilles’ own.

   • 2012, Marco Fantuzzi, Achilles in Love: Intertextual Studies, Oxford University Press, page 2:

     Iliad 1, in Maximus' interpretation, exemplifies a 'love contest' between an abusive and obsessive Agamemnon and a 'gentle and emotional' (ἥμερος καί ἐμπαθής) Achilles; […] .

2. (rare) A male given name from Ancient Greek.
3. (astronomy) The Greek camp Trojan asteroid 588 Achilles.

Derived terms

• Achillean
• Achilles heel
• Achilles tendon

Translations

Greek mythical hero

• Arabic: أَخِيل‎ m (ʔaḵīl)
• Armenian: Աքիլլես (hy) (Akʿilles)

  Old Armenian: Աքիլլէս (Akʿillēs)

• Basque: Akil
• Bulgarian: Ахил (Ahil), Ахилес (Ahiles)
• Catalan: Aquil·les m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿喀琉斯 (zh) (Ākāliúsī), 阿基里斯 (zh) (Ājīlǐsī)

• Coptic: ⲁⲭⲓⲗⲗⲉⲩⲉ (akhilleue)
• Czech: Achilleus (cs) m
• Danish: Achilleus
• Dutch: Achilles (nl)
• Esperanto: Aĥilo, Akilo
• Estonian: Achilleus (et)
• Finnish: Akhilleus (fi), Akilles (fi)
• French: Achille (fr) m
• Friulian: Achil
• Georgian: აქილევსი (akilevsi)
• German: Achilleus (de) m
• Greek: Αχιλλέας (el) m (Achilléas)

  Ancient: Ἀχιλλεύς m (Akhilleús)

• Greenlandic: Achilleusi
• Hebrew: אכילס‎ (Ahils)
• Hungarian: Akhilleusz (hu)
• Indonesian: Achilles
• Interlingua: Achilles
• Inuktitut: ᐊᑭᓪᓕᔅ (akillis)
• Italian: Achille (it)
• Japanese: アキレス (Akiresu), アキレウス (Akireusu)
• Khmer: អាឈីល (ʼaachiil)
• Korean: 아킬레스 (Akilleseu)
• Latin: Achillēs (la)
• Latvian: Achilas
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Akilles m

• Polish: Achilles (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: Aquiles (pt)
• Russian: Ахи́лл (ru) m (Axíll), Ахилле́с (ru) m (Axillés)
• Serbo-Croatian: Ahil (sh) m, Ahilej m
• Sicilian: Achilli m, Achiḍḍi m
• Slovene: Ahíl (sl) m
• Spanish: Aquiles (es) m
• Swedish: Akilles (sv), Achilles (sv)
• Turkish: Aşil
• Ukrainian: Ахіллес m (Axilles), Ахі́лл m (Axíll)
• Vietnamese: A-sin (vi)

Further reading

• Achilles (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Achilles on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Achilles, borrowed from Latin Achilles, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Proper noun

Achilles

1. (Greek mythology) Achilles
2. a male given name from Ancient Greek

Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈaxɪlɛs]

Proper noun

Achilles m anim (related adjective Achillův)

1. Achilles (Ancient Greek hero)

Declension

Declension of Achilles (sg-only hard masculine animate foreign)

	singular
nominative	Achilles
genitive	Achilla
dative	Achillovi, Achillu
accusative	Achilla
vocative	Achille
locative	Achillovi, Achillu
instrumental	Achillem

Further reading

• Achilles in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• Achilles in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Alternative forms

• Achilleus, Akilleus, Akilles

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aˈkʰiləs]

Proper noun

Achilles

1. Achilles

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Achilles, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑˈxɪ.ləs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Achil‧les

Proper noun

Achilles m

1. Achilles

Derived terms

• achillespees

Latin

Alternative forms

• Achilleus

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aˈkʰil.leːs/, [äˈkʰɪlːʲeːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈkil.les/, [äˈkilːes]

• audio (ecclesiastical)

  (file)

Proper noun

Achillēs m sg (genitive Achillis); third declension

1. (Greek mythology) Achilles

Declension

Third-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Achillēs
Genitive	Achillis
Dative	Achillī
Accusative	Achillem
Ablative	Achille
Vocative	Achillēs

Derived terms

• Achillēus
• Achillīdes

References

• “Achilles”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Achilles”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Achilles in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Achilles in D. P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin Dictionary, Wiley Publishing, 1968

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Achillēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈxil.lɛs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -illɛs
• Syllabification: A‧chil‧les

Proper noun

Achilles m pers

1. (Greek mythology) Achilles

Declension

Declension of Achilles

	singular
nominative	Achilles
genitive	Achillesa
dative	Achillesowi
accusative	Achillesa
instrumental	Achillesem
locative	Achillesie
vocative	Achillesie

Further reading

• Achilles in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Achilles in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Achilles m

1. Pre-reform spelling (until Brazil 1943/Portugal 1911) of Aquiles.

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Akilles

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Proper noun

Achilles c (genitive Achilles)

1. (Greek mythology) Achilles

Usage notes

• The classic Swedish translation of Homer's works by Erland Lagerlöf in 1912 uses this name form.