herostratic

English

Etymology

From Herostratus + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Herostratus is a learned borrowing from Latin Hērostratus, from Ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος (Hēróstratos), from Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā, Greek goddess of marriage, women, and family) + στρᾰτός (stratós, army, military force; band or body of men; common people). Herostratus (died c. 356 B.C.E.) was a Greek arsonist who sought fame by destroying the second Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (now in Izmir Province, Turkey), according to tradition by setting fire to it on 21 July 356 B.C.E., the birth date of Alexander the Great.

Pronunciation

Adjective

herostratic (comparative more herostratic, superlative most herostratic)

  1. Seeking infamy.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.