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.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

   • 1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, chapter 1, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

     Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
     Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!

   • 1910, Friedrich Nietzsche, chapter 3, in William A. Haussmann, transl., edited by Oscar Levy, The Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; 1)‎^[1], Edinburgh, London: T. N. Foulis, page 36:

     If once the lamentation is heard, it will ring out again, of the short-lived Achilles, of the leaf-like change and vicissitude of the human race, of the decay of the heroic age.

   • 2012, Richard Holway, Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond‎^[2], 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.

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

Derived terms

• Achillean
• Achilles heel
• Achilles number
• Achilles tendon

 

Translations

Greek mythical hero

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

  Old Armenian: Աքիլլէս (Akʻillēs)

• Basque: Akil
• Bulgarian: Ахил (Ahil), Ахилес (Ahiles)
• Catalan: Aquil·les (ca) 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)
• Irish: Aichill m
• 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
• Macedonian: Ахил (Ahil)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Akilles m

• Polish: Achilles (pl) m, Achil m
• 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
• Category: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 English [in turn 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 (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “Achilles”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 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

Kashubian

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish Achilles.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈxil.lɛs/
• Rhymes: -illɛs
• Syllabification: A‧chil‧les

Proper noun

Achilles m pers (related adjective achillesowi)

1. (uncountable, Greek mythology) Achilles (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)
2. (countable, rare) a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Achilles

Further reading

• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “Achilles”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “Achilles”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[3]

Latin

Alternative forms

• Achilleus

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Pronunciation

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

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

Achilles

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Achillēs. Doublet of Achil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈxil.lɛs/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

Proper noun

Achilles m pers (related adjective achillesowy)

1. (uncountable, Greek mythology) Achilles (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)

   Synonym: Achil

2. (countable, rare) a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Achilles

Declension

Declension of Achilles

	singular	plural
nominative	Achilles	Achillesowie/Achillesi
genitive	Achillesa	Achillesów
dative	Achillesowi	Achillesom
accusative	Achillesa	Achillesów
instrumental	Achillesem	Achillesami
locative	Achillesie	Achillesach
vocative	Achillesie	Achillesowie/Achillesi

Derived terms

nouns

• achilles

 

Related terms

nouns

• Achil

 

Further reading

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

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.