Hercules

Hercules

See also: hercules, Hércules, and Hèrcules

English

Etymology

From Latin Herculēs, from Etruscan 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), 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 Hungarian: Hercules (hu), Herkules (hu) Icelandic: Herkúles (is) m Inuktitut: ᐦᐄᕐᑯᓖᔅ (hiirkoliis) Italian: Ercole (it) Khmer: អ៊ែរគុល (ʼɛɛkul) Latin: Herculēs Marathi: हर्क्यूलीस (harkyūlīs) Ottoman Turkish: هركول‎ (Herkül) 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) Swedish: Herkules (sv) 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. [1]

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)

1. Corpus inscriptorum Latinarum vol. I pars II fasc. I, p.623 §1482 [= 1113] and p.626 §1503 [= 1145]. More properly: Theodorus Mommsen (editor), Inscriptiones latinae antiquissimae ad C. Caesaris mortem. Editio altera, fasciculus I, Berlin, 1918