ἀδάμας

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Often derived from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + δαμνάω (damnáō, “conquer”), as “indomitable”, but Beekes remarks that semantically this is strange and the word is rather a Semitic borrowing that was adapted by folk etymology; compare Akkadian 𒀀𒁕𒈬 (adamu) or 𒋤𒉘 (elmēšu , “a valuable stone, perhaps amber”). Middle Persian ʾlmʾs (almās) is probably from the same source.

Pronunciation

Noun

ἀδᾰ́μᾱς • (adámās) m (genitive ἀδᾰ́μᾰντος); third declension

1. adamant, the hardest metal (probably steel)
2. a hard metal resembling gold
3. diamond

Declension

Derived terms

• ἀδαμάντινος (adamántinos)

Descendants

• → Latin: adamās
  • → Albanian: adham
  • → English: adamant, diamond (via Old French)
  • → Irish: adhmaint
  • Istriot: giamanto
  • Italian: adamante
  • Portuguese: adamante, diamante, ímã
  • Sicilian: damanti, diamanti
  • Spanish: adamante, diamante, imán
  • ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *adimas, *adimantem, *diamas, *diamantem
    • Catalan: imant, diamant (via French)
    • Old French: aimant, diamant
      • French: aimant, diamant (see there for further descendants)
    • Italian: diamante
• → Old Armenian: ադամանդ (adamand)
• → Old Georgian: ანდამატიაჲ (andamaṭiay), ადამანტი (adamanṭi), ადამატი (adamaṭi), ადამაჲ (adamay)
  • Georgian: ანდამატი (andamaṭi)

Adjective

ἀδάμᾱς • (adámās) m or f (neuter ἀδάμαν); third declension

1. (figuratively) fixed, unalterable
2. not to be broken, inflexible

Declension

References

• “ἀδάμας”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀδάμας”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀδάμας in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀδάμας in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἀδάμας”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• ἀδάμας in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • adamant idem, page 10.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 19
• Skok, Petar (1971) “adàmanat”, in Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), volumes 1 (A – J), Zagreb: JAZU, page 8