Helen

Helen

See also: helen, Helén, hælen, and Hælen

English

Etymology

From French Hélène, from Latin Helena, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē). Doublet of Elaine.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlən/
• Rhymes: -ɛlən

Proper noun

Helen (plural Helens)

1. (Greek mythology) the daughter of Zeus and Leda, considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world; her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War.
   • 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 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     Fools on both sides! Helen must needs be fair,
     When with your blood you daily paint her thus.

2. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 1928 Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train

     "Is her name Ellen or Helen, Miss Viner? I thought —"
     Miss Viner closed her eyes.
     "I can sound my h's, dear, as well as anyone, but Helen is not a suitable name for a servant. I don't know what the mothers in the lower classes are coming to nowadays."

   • 1993, Oscar Hijuelos, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, →ISBN, page 6:

     ...in 1910 she brought Helen into the world, the little female, or "mujercita", as her mother called all the babies, naming her after the glittery label on a facial ointment, The Helen of Troy Beauty Pomade, said to eradicate wrinkles, to soften and add a youthful glow to the user's skin - a fortuitous choice because, of all the sisters, she would be the most beautiful and, never growing old, would always possess the face of a winsome adolescent beauty.

   • 2003, Deborah Crombie, A Share in Death, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 189:

     Gemma followed her, thinking that Helen seemed rather an old-fashioned and elegant name for this rumpled young mother.

Derived terms

• Helensburgh
• Helensville
• St Helens, St. Helens
• Theddlethorpe St Helen

Related terms

• Elaine, Elena, Ellen, Ellie, Helena, Helene, Ilona, Lena, Nell, Nellie

Descendants

• → Danish: Helen
• → Estonian: Helen
• → Hawaiian: Helena
• → Norwegian: Helen
• → Swedish: Helen

Translations

(Greek mythology) the daughter of Zeus and Leda

Armenian: Հեղինե (hy) (Hełine) Catalan: Helena (ca) French: Hélène (fr) f Galician: Helena (gl) f German: Helena (de) Greek: Ελένη (el) f (Eléni) Ancient: Ἑλένη f (Helénē) Italian: Elena (it) Latin: Helena Polish: Helena (pl) f Portuguese: Helena (pt) f Russian: Еле́на (ru) (Jeléna) Spanish: Helena (es)

female given name

Arabic: هِيلِين‎ f (hīlin), هِيلِين‎ f (helen) Armenian: Հեղինե (hy) (Hełine) Old Armenian: Հեղինէ (Hełinē) Belarusian: Але́на f (Aljéna) Breton: Elen (br) f Bulgarian: Еле́на f (Eléna) Catalan: Helena (ca), Elena Chinese: Mandarin: 海倫／海伦 (zh) (Hǎilún) Czech: Helena (cs) Danish: Helene c Dutch: Eliene f, Leen (nl) f Esperanto: Heleno Estonian: Helena Finnish: Helena (fi) French: Hélène (fr) f Galician: Helena (gl) f German: Helene (de) f Greek: Ελένη (el) f (Eléni), Έλενα (el) (Élena) Greenlandic: Helene, Iiliit Hawaiian: Helena Hebrew: הִילְנִי‎ (he) f (heléni) Hungarian: Ilona (hu) Icelandic: Elín (is) f, Helena (is) f Inuktitut: ᐦᐄᓕᓐ (hiilin) Irish: Léan Italian: Elena (it) f Japanese: ヘレン (Heren) Korean: 헬레나 (Hellena), 헬렌 (Hellen) Latvian: Helēna f Marathi: हेलेन f (helen) Norwegian: Bokmål: Helene (no) Occitan: Elena f, Alena f Old French: Helaine Persian: هلن‎ (fa) (helen) Polish: Helena (pl) f Portuguese: Elena f, Helena (pt) f Romanian: Ileana Russian: Еле́на (ru) f (Jeléna), Алёна (ru) f (Aljóna) (cognates), Хе́лен f (Xɛ́len) (transliteration) Scottish Gaelic: Eilidh Spanish: Elena (es) f Swedish: Helena (sv) c Turkish: Aleyna Ukrainian: Оле́на f (Oléna) Vietnamese: Hêlêna (Roman Catholic), Êlêna (Roman Catholic), Hà Liên (Roman Catholic) Yakut: Олооно (Oloono)

Noun

Helen (plural Helens)

1. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Papilio.

Anagrams

• Ehlen

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Danish

Proper noun

Helen

1. a female given name borrowed from English

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Estonian

Proper noun

Helen

1. a female given name, short form of Helena, also borrowed from English Helen

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Norwegian

Proper noun

Helen

1. a female given name borrowed from English

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Swedish

Proper noun

Helen c (genitive Helens)

1. a female given name borrowed from English

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Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Helen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhelen/, [ˈhe.len]

Proper noun

Helen (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜒᜎᜒᜈ᜔)

1. a female given name from English

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Turkish

Proper noun

Helen

1. (Greek mythology) Helen