Names (and etymologies) of Centaurs
Centaurs are very dear to me. I have named by daughter Nephele (Nebula) after the mother of the Centaurs. Here are the principal Centaurs and their names' etymologies:Agrios - wild, fierce, evil
Agchios - near, from agchi-
Aisakos - branch of myrtle or laurel
Amykos - without nose (from amykter
Amphion - on both sides (amphi- is related to the Latin ambi-)
Aratos - prayed against, accursed
Argeios - from the plain (argos). There are also several Greek town called Argos..
Argeus - Same as Argos
Asbolos - soot
Bianor - bodily strength, force (from bia)
Gleneus - playful (from glenos, meaning playthings)
Dapnis - bayberry
Dexamenos - accepting, receiving (from dexameni, receptacle)
Demoleon - Lion (leon) of the people (demos)
Doupon - making a dead, heavy sound (doupos)
Dryalos - to talk nonsense, play the fool (dryazein)
Elatos - to drive, drive on, set in motion (enauno)
Erigdoupos - loud-sounding, thundering, from eris (discord) and gdoupos (sound).
Eurybios - having a broad, robust (eurys) life (bios).
Eurynomos - Broad, far-reaching (eurys) law (nomos)
Thaumas - causing wonder, marvel (thauma)
Thereus - hunter, chaser
Iambreus - Iambic, speaking in verse
Ixion - from Hiketes, one who comes to seek protection, a suppliant or fugitive
Ixon - as above
Hippasos - related to horses/riding (hippasia = horse riding)
Hippotion - a horseman, knight (from hippotes)
Isoples Equally (iso-) armed (oplon)
Klanis - the weeper, lamenter (from klano to lament). Means he who farts in contemporary Greek.
Lykidas - wolf's cub, from lykos
Melagchaites - dark-mane, from mela (black) and chaite (mane)
Melaneus - The dark one, from melas (black)
Mermeros - Baneful, warlike
Mimas - actor, mime
Nessos - possibly related to homecoming (nostos). Nostalgia has the same root.
Oiklos - possibly related to oikos (to be like)
Homados - noisy throng, mob of warriors
Oreios - of or from the mountains, mountain-haunting
Ourios - of or from the mountains, mountain-haunting
Ophion - serprnt-like, from ophis (pronounced like Office, come to think of it!)
Perimedes - prudent and cunning, from medos.
Petraios - living among the rocks (from petra)
Peukeides - living in the pine forest (from peukon, pine tree)
Pylenor - he who tends the gates/doors (from pyle)
Pyretos - burning heat, fiery heat, fever
Roikos - fluid, flowing (from rheo)
Roitos- fluid, flowing (from rheo)
Hylaios - belonging to the wood or forest, savage (from hyle, woods)
Phlegaios - twines or twisted (from plegma)
Pholos - loaded, beast of burden (phol-)
Phrikios - shivering, causing shivers (phrike). The word freak descended from phrike)
Phrixos - shivering, causing shivers (phrike). The word freak descended from phrike)
Cheiron - worse, meaner, inferiorCentaur names were culled from *Thesaurus of Greek Names* by Ares Diamantes (Athens, 2001. Once again, etymologies were drawn from Liddell-Scott and common sense.
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Messages

Names (and etymologies) of Centaurs  ·  Pavlos  ·  11/9/2001, 7:06 AM
COOL! I could seirously use some of those... nt  ·  llee  ·  11/9/2001, 11:49 AM
Cool list! Plus, a question...  ·  Nanaea  ·  11/9/2001, 9:55 AM
Great ! !(nt)  ·  Nana  ·  11/9/2001, 7:44 AM
Thanks :) n/t  ·  Pavlos  ·  11/9/2001, 9:47 AM
PS  ·  Pavlos  ·  11/9/2001, 7:22 AM
LOL :) n/t  ·  Pavlos  ·  11/12/2001, 5:57 AM
Well, they ARE Greek, after all..... : P  ·  Daividh  ·  11/11/2001, 8:30 PM