Hercules

See also: hercules, Hércules, and Hèrcules

English

Etymology

From Latin Herculēs, from Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Hēraklês), apparently from Ἥρα (Hḗra, “Hera”) + κλέος (kléos, “glory”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɜːkjəliːz/, /ˈhɜːkjʊliːz/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɝːkjəliːz/, /ˈhɝːkjʊliːz/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Proper noun

Hercules

1. (Roman mythology) 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 12 labours performed to redeem himself after killing his family.

   Coordinate terms: Heracles, Melqart

2. (astronomy) A summer constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble the mythical hero. It lies between the constellations Lyra and Corona Borealis.
3. (astronomy) A crater in the first quadrant on the moon.
4. (rare, countable) A male given name from Ancient Greek
5. A city in Contra Costa County, California, United States.

Derived terms

• Her
• Herc
• Herculean
• Herculinian
• Herculis

 

Related terms

• Heracles
• Herakles
• Hercules ant
• Hercules beetle

 

Translations

The Roman name of Heracles — See also translations at Heracles

• Armenian: Հերկուլես (hy) (Herkules)
• Catalan: Hèrcules (ca) m
• Czech: Herkules (cs) m
• Danish: Herkules
• Esperanto: Herkulo
• French: Hercule (fr) m
• Galician: Hércules (gl) m
• Georgian: ჰერკულესი (herḳulesi)
• German: Herkules (de) m
• Greenlandic: Herkulesi
• Icelandic: Herkúles (is) m
• Inuktitut: ᐦᐄᕐᑯᓖᔅ (hiirkuliis)

• Italian: Ercole (it)
• Latin: Herculēs
• Marathi: हर्क्यूलीस (harkyūlīs)
• Polish: Herkules (pl)
• Portuguese: Hércules (pt) m
• Russian: Геркуле́с (ru) m (Gerkulés)
• Slovak: Herkules m
• Spanish: Hércules (es) m
• Swahili: Herkule, Hekyulizi
• Turkish: Herkül
• Ukrainian: Геркуле́с (Herkulés)

constellation

• Burmese: တံငါတာရာ (my) (tamngatara), တံငါတာရာ (my) (tamngatara)
• Czech: Herkules (cs) m, souhvězdí Herkula n
• Finnish: Herkules (fi)
• French: Hercule (fr) m
• Galician: Hércules (gl)
• German: Herkules (de) m
• Greek: Ηρακλής (el) m (Iraklís)

  Ancient: Ἡρακλῆς m (Hēraklês)

• Icelandic: Herkúles (is) m
• Irish: Earcail m

• Italian: Ercole (it) m
• Latin: Hercules, Geniculator, Geniculatus, Ingeniculus, Ingeniculatus, Nixus genu, Nixus in genibus, Nixus
• Persian: رستم‎ (fa) (rostam), پهلوان‎ (fa) (pahlevân)
• Polish: Herkules (pl)
• Portuguese: Hércules (pt)
• Russian: Геркулес (ru) (Gerkules)
• Spanish: Hércules (es)
• Turkish: Herkül

Further reading

• Hercules on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun

Hercules (plural Hercules)

1. A Hercules beetle

Anagrams

• Schueler

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Hercules m

1. (astronomy) Hercules

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Latin

Alternative forms

• Hercelēs, Herclēs, Erclēs

Etymology

Via the Etruscan 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), from the Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Hēraklês), apparently from Ἥρα (Hḗra, “Hera”) +‎ κλέος (kléos, “glory”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈher.ku.leːs/, [ˈhɛrkʊɫ̪eːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈer.ku.les/, [ˈɛrkules]

Proper noun

Herculēs m sg (genitive Herculis or Herculī); third declension

1. (Greek mythology) Hercules, Heracles, heroic son of Zeus.

   Nē Herculēs quidem contrā/adversus duōs (Μηδ’ Ἡρακλῆς πρὸς δύο).

   Not even Hercules fights against two.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Herculēs	Herculēs
Genitive	Herculis Herculī	Herculum
Dative	Herculī	Herculibus
Accusative	Herculem	Herculēs
Ablative	Hercule	Herculibus
Vocative	Herculē Herculēs Hercle	Herculēs

• Although listed as a vocative, Hercle is properly an interjection and a religious oath/swear. The other vocative forms also occur in this function, often augmented by mĕ - see mehercule.
• The genitive and dative often found spelt as Herculei (read as /ˈher.ku.liː/ by Classical era) in manuscripts and inscriptions.

Derived terms

• Herculeus
• Columnae Herculis

References

• “Hercŭles”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Hercules”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Hercŭlēs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 742/2
• “Herculēs” on page 791/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)