βροτός

See also: βρότος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *mrətós, from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥twós or *mr̥tós (“dead, mortal”), ultimately from the root *mer- (“to die”). Cognates include Sanskrit मृत (mṛtá), Old Armenian մարդ (mard), Latin mortuus, Old Church Slavonic мрътвъ (mrŭtvŭ), Persian ‎ (mard) and Old English morþ.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bro.tós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /broˈtos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βroˈtos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vroˈtos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vroˈtos/

Noun

βροτός • (brotós) m or f (genitive βροτοῦ); second declension

(poetic) mortal man, human being (often in plural)
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.32:
  ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται.
  ṑ pópoi, hoîon dḗ nu theoùs brotoì aitióōntai.
  [Zeus:] Alas, how mortals are always blaming the gods.

Usage notes

In Homer, βροτός behaves as if it begins in a single consonant, because it does not make the preceding syllable long. In the example below, εἴπῃσι βροτῶν must be scanned long—long–short–short—long: ει . πηι σι (β)ρο . των. Ordinarily the first consonant in the cluster βρ would close the last syllable of εἴπῃσι and make it long, but this results in an unmetrical rhythm (see dactylic hexameter): ει . πηι σιβ ρο ? των.

800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 1.282:
ἤν τίς τοι εἴπῃσι βροτῶν, ἢ ὄσσαν ἀκούσῃς
ḗn tís toi eípēisi brotôn, ḕ óssan akoúsēis
if any of the mortals can tell you [anything], or you can hear a divine rumor

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ βροτός; τοῦ βροτοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βροτός ho brotós	τὼ βροτώ tṑ brotṓ	οἱ βροτοί hoi brotoí
Genitive	τοῦ βροτοῦ toû brotoû	τοῖν βροτοῖν toîn brotoîn	τῶν βροτῶν tôn brotôn
Dative	τῷ βροτῷ tôi brotôi	τοῖν βροτοῖν toîn brotoîn	τοῖς βροτοῖς toîs brotoîs
Accusative	τὸν βροτόν tòn brotón	τὼ βροτώ tṑ brotṓ	τοὺς βροτούς toùs brotoús
Vocative	βροτέ broté	βροτώ brotṓ	βροτοί brotoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of βροτός; βροτοῦ (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	βροτός brotós	βροτώ brotṓ	βροτοί brotoí
Genitive	βροτοῦ / βροτοῖο / βροτόο brotoû / brotoîo / brotóo	βροτοῖῐν brotoîin	βροτῶν brotôn
Dative	βροτῷ brotôi	βροτοῖῐν brotoîin	βροτοῖσῐ / βροτοῖσῐν / βροτοῖς brotoîsi(n) / brotoîs
Accusative	βροτόν brotón	βροτώ brotṓ	βροτούς brotoús
Vocative	βροτέ broté	βροτώ brotṓ	βροτοί brotoí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Antonyms

θεός (theós), ἀθάνατος (athánatos)

Derived terms

ἄβροτος (ábrotos)
Ἀγεσίμβροτος (Agesímbrotos)
ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos)
Ἐχέμβροτος (Ekhémbrotos)
Θεόμβροτος (Theómbrotos)
Κλεόμβροτος (Kleómbrotos)
Στησίμβροτος (Stēsímbrotos)

References

βροτός in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
βροτός in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
βροτός in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
βροτός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
βροτός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
βροτός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2019)
βροτός in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter