Etymology
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Thermopylae

narrow land passage along the Malian Gulf in ancient Greece, from Greek thermos "hot" (from PIE root *gwher- "to heat, warm") + pylai, plural of pylē "gate; mountain pass, entrance into a region" (see pylon). In reference to nearby hot sulfur springs. Often simply hai pylai "the gates." Figurative of heroic resistance against overwhelming numbers since the battle fought there between the Greeks and Persians in 480 B.C.E.

Entries linking to Thermopylae

*gwher- 

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to heat, warm."

It forms all or part of: brand; brandish; brandy; brimstone; brindled; forceps; Fornax; fornicate; fornication; fornix; furnace; hypothermia; thermal; thermo-; Thermopylae; Thermos.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit gharmah "heat;" Old Persian Garmapada-, name of the fourth month, corresponding to June/July, from garma- "heat;" Hittite war- "to burn;" Armenian jerm "warm;" Greek thermos "warm;" Latin formus "warm," fornax "oven;" Old Irish fogeir "heated;" Old English bærnan "to kindle."

pylon (n.)

1823, "gateway to an Egyptian temple," from Greek pylon "gateway," from pylē "gate, wing of a pair of double gates; an entrance, entrance into a country; mountain pass; narrow strait of water," a word of unknown etymology, perhaps a foreign technical term. The usual word for "door" in PIE in Greek took the form thyra (see thyroid). Meaning "tower for guiding aviators" (1909) led to that of "steel tower for high-tension wires" (1923).

updated on January 10, 2021

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Dictionary entries near Thermopylae

thermograph

thermography

thermometer

thermonuclear

thermoplastic

Thermopylae

Thermos

thermosphere

thermostat

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