Κάδμος

English (LSJ)

ὁ, Cadmus, Od.5.333, Hes.Th.937, etc.:—Adj. Καδμεῖος, Καδμεία, Καδμεῖον, lon. Καδμήιος, η, ον, Cadmean, Hes.Th.940, etc.:—fem. Καδμηίς, Καδμηίδος, ἡ, h.Bacch.57, Hes.Op.162, Th.1.12, prob. in Trag.Adesp.177:—poet. Καδμέϊος, Pi.I.3(4).71, S.Ant.1115 (lyr.): Καδμεῖοι, οἱ, the Cadmeans or ancient inhabitants of Thebes, Il.4.388, Hes. Th.326, Hdt.5.57, etc.: Καδμεία, ἡ, the citadel of Thebes, X.HG6.3.11; also, Pythagorean name for eight, Theol.Ar.54: prov., Καδμεία νίκη a victory involving one's own ruin (from the story of the Σπαρτοί, or that of Polynices and Eteocles), Hdt.1.166, cf. Pl.Lg.641c, Plu.2.488a, Suid. (but = a great victory, Arr.Fr.21 J.); so Καδμεῖον κράτος AP5.178 (Mel.): metaph., Καδμεία παιδεία Pl. l.c.; Καδμεῖα γράμματα the alphabet, supposed to have been brought by Κάδμος from Phoenicia, Hdt.5.59. (The spelling Κάσσμος is found on a vase of Rhegium, Roscher Lex.d.Gr.u.Röm.Myth.2(1).842.)

French (Bailly abrégé)

ου (ὁ) :
Cadmos, fondateur de Thèbes.
Étymologie: pê de κατά et δάμνημι, litt. « le dompteur, le vainqueur » -- DELG aucune étym. assurée, que ce soit du grec κέκασμαι ou par emprunt.

Russian (Dvoretsky)

Κάδμος: ὁ Кадм
1 сын финикийского царя Агенора, брат Европы, легендарный основатель Фив Беотийских и создатель древнегреческого алфавита из 16 букв - Καδμήϊα или Φοινικήια γράμματα Her., впосл. восполненного восьмью «ионийскими» буквами - ζ, η, θ, ξ, φ, χ, ψ, ω Hom., Her. etc.;
2 сын Скита, тиранн о-ва Кос, V в. до н. э. Her.

Greek (Liddell-Scott)

Κάδμος: ὁ, Ὀδ. Ε. 353, Ἡσ. Θ. 937, κτλ.· υἱὸς τοῦ τῆς Φοινίκης βασιλέως Ἀγήνορος, ἀδελφὸς δὲ τῆς Εὐρώπης, θεμελιωτὴς τῶν ἐν Βοιωτίᾳ Θηβῶν· - ἡ διήγησις αὕτη εἶναι τῶν μεθ’ Ὅμηρον χρόνων, διότι κατὰ τὰ ἐν Ὀδ. Λ. 262 ὁ Ἀμφίων καὶ ὁ Ζῆθος ἦσαν οἱ κτίτορες αὐτῆς. Ὁ Κάδμος λέγεται ὅτι ἤνεγκεν ἐκ Φοινίκης τὸ παλαιὸν Ἑλληνικὸν ἀλφάβητον ἐκ δεκαὲξ γραμμάτων, ὁπόθεν ταῦτα ἐκλήθησαν Καδμήϊα ἢ Φοινικήϊα γράμματα (Ἡρόδ. 5. 58, 59)· ταῦτα βραδύτερον ηὐξήθησαν τῇ προσθήκῃ ἄλλων ὀκτὼ γραμμάτων καλουμὲνων Ἰωνικῶν, η ω θ φ χ ζ ξ ψ· πρβλ. Wolf Προλεγ. σ. li κἑξ. (Κάδμος πιθαν. = τῷ: ὁ ἐξ Ἀνατολῶν ἄνθρωπος, πρβλ. τὸ Ἑβρ. Qedem = Ἀνατολή).

English (Autenrieth)

Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, father of Ino, Od. 5.333†.

English (Slater)

Κάδμος
1 son of Agenor, husband of Harmonia, founder of Thebes, father of Semele, Ino, Autonoe, Agaue ( (P. 3.97) ), ancestor of Theron of Akragas (fr. 119.) εὐθρόνοις Κάδμοιο κούραις (O. 2.23) Πηλεύς τε καὶ Κάδμος ἐν τοῖσιν ἀλέγονται sc. among those who live in the isles of the blessed (O. 2.78) αἰὼν δ' ἀσφαλὴς οὐκ ἔγεντ οὔτ Αἰακίδᾳ παρὰ Πηλεῖ οὔτε παῤ ἀντιθέῳ Κάδμῳ (P. 3.88) “ἐν Κάδμου πύλαις” (P. 8.47) Κάδμου κόραι, Σεμέλα μὲν, Ἰνὼ δὲ (P. 11.1) ἐπεὶ στεφάνους ἓξ ὤπασεν Κάδμου στρατῷ ἐξ ἀέθλων i. e. to the Thebans (I. 1.11) παρ' εὐτειχέσιν Κάδμου πύλαις (I. 6.75) ἢ Κάδμον ἢ Σπαρτῶν ἱερὸν γένος ἀνδρῶν fr. 29. 2. Κάδμου στρατὸν καὶ Ζεάθου πόλιν (Pae. 9.44) ἔνθα ποθ' Ἁρμονίαν φάμα γα[ ] Κάδμον ὑψη[λαῖ]ς πραπίδες[σι λαχεῖν (supp. Bury: γα[μέταν] supp. Housman) Δ. 2. 28.
2 son of Skythes, tyrant of Kos in the early 5th century, ambassador 481 B. C. of Gelon to Delphi (Herodot 7. 163.): test., Vita Pind. Ambros., 1. 3. 2 Dr., καὶ γὰρ Σιμωνίδης τὴν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίαν γέγραφε καὶ Πίνδαρος μέμνηται τῆς Κάδμου βασιλείας (locus a multis varie temptatus) fr. 272.

Greek Monotonic

Κάδμος: ὁ, ο Κάδμος, σε Ομήρ. Οδ., Ησίοδ.· γιος του βασιλιά της Φοινίκης Αγήνορα, αδερφός της Ευρώπης, ιδρυτής των Βοιωτικών Θηβών. Ο Κάδμος έφερε από τη Φοινίκη το παλαιό ελλ. αλφάβ. των δεκαέξι γραμμάτων, απ' όπου ονομάστηκαν και Καδμήϊα ή Φοινικήϊα γράμματα (σε Ηρόδ).· αυτά αργότερα αυξήθηκαν με την προσθήκη άλλων οκτώ γραμμάτων, των επονομαζόμενων Ιωνικών, η, ω, θ, φ, χ, ζ, ξ, ψ.

Frisk Etymological English

Grammatical information: m.
Meaning: name of a hero, the founder of Thebes (Od.)
Other forms: / Κασσμος (vase Rhegium).
Derivatives: Καδμεῖος, Καδμήιος (Hes.) adj.; Καδμεία the hill of Thebes (X.); Καδμειῶνες the inhabitants of Thebes (Il.); καδμεία (γῆ) cadmia, calamine (Dsc.).
Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]
Etymology: The connection with κέκασμαι is certainly wrong. The name is found for a river in Thesprotia and for a mountain and a river in Caria So the word is without a doubt a Pre-Greek word, of unknown meaning (Beekes, Mnemosyne 42 (2004)465ff. and Kadmos, 43(2005)172f. This is confirmed by the name Καδμἶλος which has a suffix -ιλ- which is well known in Anatolia. The structure of the name agrees with that of Πάτμος, Λάτμος, Λάκμος. The gloss κάδμος δόρυ, λόφος, ἀσπίς H. finds no support. Cf. on Καδμῖλος.

Middle Liddell

Κάδμος, ὁ,
Cadmus, Od., Hes.: son of the Phoenician king Agenor, brother to Europa, founder of Boeotian Thebes. Cadmus brought from Phoenicia the old Greek alphabet of sixteen letters, hence called Καδμήια or Φοινικήια γράμματα (Hdt.); which was afterwards increased by the eight (so called) Ionic, η ω θ φ χ ζ ξ ψ.

Frisk Etymology German

Κάδμος: {Kádmos}
Meaning: Heroenname
See also: s. κέκασμαι.
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Wikipedia EN

In Greek mythology, Cadmus (/ˈkædməs/; Greek: Κάδμος, translit. Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia, the son of king Agenor and queen Telephassa of Tyre, the brother of Phoenix, Cilix and Europa, Cadmus traced his origins back to Poseidon and Libya.

The etymology of Cadmus' name remains uncertain. According to one view, the name originates from Phoenician, from the Semitic root qdm, which signifies "the east", the equation of Kadmos with the Semitic qdm was traced to a publication of 1646 by R. B. Edwards. According to another view, the name is of Greek origin, ultimately from the word kekasmenos. (Greek: κεκασμένος, lit. 'excellent').

Possible connected words include the Semitic triliteral root qdm (Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎄𐎎) which signifies "east" in Ugaritic, in Arabic, words derived from the root "qdm" include the verb "qdm" meaning "to come" as well as words meaning "primeval" and "forth" as well as "foot", names derived from it are "Qadim", which means "the elder one",─in Hebrew, qedem means "front", "east" and "ancient times"; the verb qadam (Syriac: ܩܕܡ) means "to be in front", and the Greek kekasmai (<*kekadmai) "to shine". Therefore, the complete meaning of the name might be: "He who excels" or "from the east".