Etymology in Harry Potter
.
NameOriginMeaningEnglish Cognates
Albus (Dumbledore) LatinWhite.
Alastor (Mad-Eye Moody) GreekAvenger (see the Encyclopaedia
Mythica article on him)
.
Remus (Lupin)LatinThe twin brother of
Romulus, the mythical founder of
Rome. Both were raised by a wolf.
.
(Remus) LupinLatinwolf.
Minerva (McGonagall)LatinRoman goddess of wisdom.
VoldemortFrenchFlight of Death (vol de mort)mortal
Draco (Malfoy)Latin/GreekLatin for dragon. Also a Greek ruler
known for making harsh laws.
dragon, Draco (the constellation)
(Draco and Lucius) Malfoy Frenchmal, bad; and foi, faith. Similar to
Sansfoy (without faith) from Edmund
Spencer's The Faerie Queene.
Thanks to David Evans for this one.
malicious, malevolent, faith
(Madame Olympe) Maxime FrenchMaximum? I'm not sure on this onemaximum, maximize
Olympe (Maxime)GreekMt. Olympus was the mountain
where the ancient Greek gods
were said to live. The name then
implies both "god-like" and
"mountain-like", both of which
are accurate.
Mt. Olympus, the Olympic games
Fleur (Delacour)Frenchflowerflower
(Fleur) DelacourFrenchof the court (de la cour)court
Argus (Filch)GreekIn Greek myth, Argus was a
hundred-eyed watchman used by
Hera.
.
DurmstrangGermanThis is an anagram of the words
sturm und drang, or "storm and
stress." This was a German literary
and dramatic movement of the 18th
century.
storm
BeauxbatonsFrenchbeau, beautiful, and baton, stick.baton
Sibyl (Trelawney)GreekIn Greek myth the sibyls were
renowned prophetesses.
.
The mirror of ErisedEnglish"Erised" is "desire" backwards.
Thanks to Christine for this one.
.
Ludo (Bagman)Latingames.
Sirius (Black)LatinSirius is the name of the dog-star.
PadfootEnglishAnother name for a grim, although
Padfoot was thought to be a specific
dog rather than one of many.
.


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