Homeric Meaning
/həʊˈmɛɹɪk/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjAlternative letter-case form of Homeric.
adjResembling or relating to the epic poetry of Homer.
Sentence Examples
The epic poem was homeric.
Homeric verse is ancient Greek poetry.
The author wrote an epic poem of homeric proportions.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The incredible party featured a ____ feast with mountains of food.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poet's ____ style is characterized by its grand scale and elevated language.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1751 May 14, [Samuel Johnson], “[Echoes and Imitators]”, in The Rambler, volume V, number 121, Edinburgh: Printed by Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, and other booksellers, →OCLC, pages 132–133; The Rambler. In Four Volumes, 14th edition, volume III, number 121, London: Printed by A[ndrew] Strahan, Printers-Street, for J. Johnson [et al.], 1801, →OCLC, page 97:
"In the beginning of the Fourth Book the poet [John Milton] introduces an Homerick cluster of similes; which seems to mark an intention of bestowing more poetical decoration on the conclusion of the Poem, than on the preceding parts of it."
— 1852, Henry John Todd, “Preliminary Observations on Paradise Regained”, in The Poetical Works of John Milton. With Notes of Various Authors; and with some Account of the Life and Writings of Milton, Derived Principally from Original Documents in Her Majesty’s State-paper Office. … In Four Volumes, 5th edition, volume III, London: Rivingtons [et al.], →OCLC, page xv:
"We, having obtained knowledge of the early derivation and distribution of mankind, and of the primitive religion, from sources other than those open to Homer, shall find in this knowledge the lost counterpart of a great portion of the Homeric myths. The theological and Messianic traditions which we find recorded in Scripture, when compared with the Homeric theogony, will be found to correspond with a large and important part of it: […]"
— 1858, W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, “Sect. I. On the Mixed Character of the Supernatural System, or Theo-Mythology, of Homer.”, in Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age. … In Three Volumes, volume II (Olympus: Or, The Religion of the Homeric Age), Oxford: At the University Press, →OCLC, pages 29–30:
"In some respects Homeric society is clearly an artificial literary creation. It is a natural tendency of all heroic epic to exaggerate the social status and behaviour of everyone involved, so that characters appear generally to belong to the highest social class and to possess great wealth and extraordinary abilities, in implicit contrast with the inequalities and squalor of the present age."
— 1993, Oswyn Murray, “The End of the Dark Age: The Aristocracy”, in Early Greece, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 35:
"Women are often carried away by force; and the whole tribe, as in Homeric times, rise to avenge the wrong."
— 1860, Hugh Blair, “A Critical Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian, the Son of Fingal”, in Ossian, translated by James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian; Translated by James Macpherson, Esq. to which are Prefixed a Preliminary Discourse and Dissertation on the Æra and Poems of Ossian, Boston, Mass.: Crosby, Nichols, Lee & Company, →OCLC, page 103:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The incredible party featured a ____ feast with mountains of food.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poet's ____ style is characterized by its grand scale and elevated language.