masc. proper name, from Latinized form of Greek kleon, kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear."

name of great Athenian political leader, from Greek Themistokles, literally "famed in law and right," from themis "custom, law, right" (see Themis) + -kles "fame," a common ending in Greek proper names, related to kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear."

Athenian tragic poet (c. 496-406 B.C.E.), the name is Greek Sophokles, literally "famed for wisdom," from sophos "wise" (see sophist) + -kles "fame," a common ending in Greek proper names, related to kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear." Related: Sophoclean.

Athenian statesman (c. 495-429 B.C.E.), leader of the city in its period of intellectual and material preeminence, from Latinized form of Greek Perikles, literally "far-famed," from peri "all around" (see peri-) + -kles "fame," a common ending in Greek proper names, related to kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear." Related: Periclean.

common name of sister-queens in Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The name is Latinized Greek, probably meaning "glory of her father," from kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory" (from PIE root *kleu- "to hear") + patris, genitive of pater "father" (see father (n.)), though Shipley suggests "key to the fatherland," from kleis "key" (see clavicle). The famous queen was the seventh of that name. Related: Cleopatran.

flattering courtier of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse; his name in Greek means literally "fame of the people," from dēmos, damos "people" (see demotic) + -kles "fame," a common ending in Greek proper names, related to kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear." To teach Damocles the peril that accompanies a tyrant's pleasures, Dionysius seated him at a banquet with a sword suspended above his head by a single hair. Hence the figurative use of sword of Damocles, by 1747. Related: Damoclean.

Greek hero, son of Zeus and Alcmene, worshipped by the Romans as a god of strength, c. 1200 (originally in reference to the Pillars of Hercules), also Ercules, from Latin Hercles (Etruscan Hercle), from Greek Hērakles, literally "Glory of Hera;" from Hera (q.v.) + -kles "fame," a common ending in Greek proper names, related to kleos "rumor, report, news; good report, fame, glory," from PIE *klew-yo-, suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear."

Used figuratively in reference to strength since late 14c. Vocative form Hercule was a common Roman interjection (especially me Hercule!) "assuredly, certainly." The constellation so called in English by 1670s.

fem. proper name, from French Évangeline, ultimately from Greek evangelion "good news" (see evangelism).

Biblical masc. proper name, name of an ancient patriarch whose story forms a book of the Old Testament, from Hebrew Iyyobh, which according to some scholars is literally "hated, persecuted," from ayyabh "he was hostile to," related to ebhah "enmity." Others say it means "the penitent one." Figurative of bad news, destitution, and patient endurance. Hence Job's comforter, of one who brings news of additional misfortune (1736).

1879 as colloquial shortening of Metropolitan (n.) "member of the New York Metropolitan Base-Ball Club."

THE baseball season has opened, and along with the twittering of the birds, the budding of the trees, and the clattering of the truck, comes the news that the "Mets were beaten yesterday 17 to 5." It is an infallible sign of spring when the Mets are beaten 17 to 5, and we invariably put on our thinner clothing when we read that refreshing, though perennial news in the papers. [Life magazine, May 12, 1887]

Used variously to abbreviate other proper names beginning with Metropolitan, such as "Metropolitan Museum of Art" (N.Y.), by 1919; "Metropolitan Railway" (stock), by 1890; "Metropolitan Opera Company (N.Y.), by 1922. Related: Mets.