Meanings
alternative Mycenæ
- An ancient Greek city in the NE Peloponnesus on the plain of Argos, inhabited since about 4000 B.C.E.
1958, Alan John Bayard Wace, Elizabeth Bayard French, The Mycenae Tablets II, American Philosophical Society, page 1, The excavators of Mycenae added in 1953 and 1954 important new materials to the small but excellent archives of Mycenae.
2 more examples
1992 [Routledge], Richard Tomlinson, From Mycenae to Constantinople, 2003, Taylor & Francis e-Library, page 31, In 479 BC the citizen army of Mycenae marched to Plataea in Boeotia to join the other mainland Greek cities in inflicting the final defeat which terminated Xerxes' invasion of Greece.
The Prehistoric Cemetery at Mycenae provides our most coherent glimpse of the Middle Hellenic period at Mycenae.
2000, Maureen Joan Alden, Well Built Mycenae, Oxbow Books, page 1
Origin
- Ancient GreekΜυκῆναι
- LatinMycenae
- EnglishMycenae
From Latin Mycenae, Ancient Greek Μυκῆναι (Mukênai), the name of the Ancient Greek city, from Μυκήνη (Mukḗnē), a nymph in Greek mythology who lived around Mycenae. Doublet of Mykines. Two traditional etymologies exist: * According to Pausanias, Perseus, the legendary founder of the city, named it either after the cap of the sheath of his sword or after a mushroom he had plucked on the site (either way, the term would derive from Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs)). * Homer connected the name to the abovementioned Mycene (or Mykene), daughter of Inachus, first King of Argos (Odyssey, 2.120). Homer was not alone in identifying Inachus as a river god, and thus Mycene as a nymph.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Μυκῆναι
- Μυκῆναι (Mukênai)ancient Greek city
Chinese Mandarin 邁錫尼 /迈锡尼
- 邁錫尼 /迈锡尼 (Màixīní)ancient Greek city
Czech Mykény
- Mykényancient Greek city
Esperanto Mikeno, Miceno
- Mikenoancient Greek city
- Micenoancient Greek city
French Mycènes
- Mycènesancient Greek city
German Mykene, Mykenä
- Mykeneancient Greek city
- Mykenäancient Greek city
Greek Μυκήνες
- Μυκήνες (Mykínes)ancient Greek city
Hawaiian Mukānai
- Mukānaiancient Greek city
Hungarian Mükéné
- Mükénéancient Greek city
Irish Micéiné, Mycenae
- Micéinéancient Greek city
- Mycenaeancient Greek city
Italian Micene
- Miceneancient Greek city
Japanese ミケーネ, ミュケーナイ
- ミケーネ (Mikēne)ancient Greek city
- ミュケーナイ (Myukēnai)ancient Greek city
Lithuanian Mikėnai
- Mikėnaiancient Greek city
Polish Mykeny
- Mykenyancient Greek city
Portuguese Micenas
- Micenasancient Greek city
Russian Мике́ны
- Мике́ны (Mikény)ancient Greek city
Spanish Micenas
- Micenasancient Greek city
Swedish Mykene
- Mykeneancient Greek city
Turkish Miken
- Mikenancient Greek city
Cite this entry
Mycenae. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mycenae
“Mycenae.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mycenae. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mycenae,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mycenae.
Source: Mycenae on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.