What does "homeric" mean?
Resembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer.
Homeric
/həʊˈmɛɹɪk/ adj
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Resembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer.
- Grammar: homeric is listed as adj.
- Nearest alternatives: abysmal, alcaic, anacreontic, archaic greek.
- Useful contrasts: modern, modern Greek, plain.
- Usage evidence: But Cicero does not seem even to have had a religious sentiment to cover the nakedness of his political opportunism. Not only does he in the Tusculan Disputations put aside in the Platonic fashion all the Homeric tales which anthropomorphize and discredit the gods; but in his treatise On Divination he shows an absolute disbelief in all the recognized practices, including the augury which he himself officially practised; and his sole excuse is that they are to be retained “on account of popular opinion and of their great public utility.”
How to use "homeric"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "homeric" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "homeric" is acting as adj in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Resembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer.
"The warmeſt admirers of the great Mantuan poet [Virgil] can extol him for little more than the ſkill with which he has, by making his hero both a traveller and a warrior, united the beauties of the Iliad and the Odyſſey in one compoſition: yet his judgment was perhaps ſometimes overborne, by his avarice of the Homeric treaſures; and, for fear of ſuffering a ſparkling ornament to be loſt, he has inſerted it where it cannot ſhine with its original ſplendor."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Homeric. alt-of
"At home he [John Ruskin] looks young & rompish at the meeting, at Hunts meeting he looked old & ungainly, but his power & eloquence as a speaker were homeric."
- 3 Of or pertaining to Greece during the Bronze Age, as described in Homer's works.
"Women are often carried away by force; and the whole tribe, as in Homeric times, rise to avenge the wrong."
- 4 Fit to be immortalized in poetry by Homer; epic, heroic.
"At home he [John Ruskin] looks young & rompish at the meeting, at Hunts meeting he looked old & ungainly, but his power & eloquence as a speaker were homeric."
Adjective
- 1 relating to or characteristic of Homer or his age or the works attributed to him wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"But Cicero does not seem even to have had a religious sentiment to cover the nakedness of his political opportunism. Not only does he in the Tusculan Disputations put aside in the Platonic fashion all the Homeric tales which anthropomorphize and discredit the gods; but in his treatise On Divination he shows an absolute disbelief in all the recognized practices, including the augury which he himself officially practised; and his sole excuse is that they are to be retained “on account of popular opinion and of their great public utility.”"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "homeric"?
Common synonyms include: abysmal, alcaic, anacreontic, archaic greek, astronomic, astronomical.
How do you use "homeric" in a sentence?
But Cicero does not seem even to have had a religious sentiment to cover the nakedness of his political opportunism. Not only does he in the Tusculan Disputations put aside in the Platonic fashion all the Homeric tales which anthropomorphize and discredit the gods; but in his treatise On Divination he shows an absolute disbelief in all the recognized practices, including the augury which he himself officially practised; and his sole excuse is that they are to be retained “on account of popular opinion and of their great public utility.”
How do you pronounce "homeric"?
Pronounced /həʊˈmɛɹɪk/.
Etymology
From Latin homēricus (“of or pertaining to Homer; Homeric”), from Ancient Greek Ὁμηρικός (Homērikós), from Ὅμηρος (Hómēros, “Homer”) (possibly from ὅμηρος (hómēros, “hostage”), a nickname) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming relational adjectives) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-kos (suffix forming relational adjectives)); analysable as Homer + -ic.