Etymology

herostratic fame

he·ro·strat·ic fame

Today it means: Fame (or infamy) won through crime, destruction, or some other misdeed. Full definition →

Latin Hērostratus ← Ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἩρόστρατος
  2. Latin · learned borrowing fromHērostratus
  3. English todayherostratic fame

Herostratic is derived from Herostratus (learned borrowing from Latin Hērostratus, from Ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος (Hēróstratos) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns)). 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.

Words from the same roots

LatinHērostratus all →

herostraticHerostratus

Ancient GreekἩρόστρατος all →

herostraticHerostratus

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.