δρόμος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *drem- (“to run”) + -ος (-os); cognate with Sanskrit द्राति (drāti, “to run”), द्रम् (drámati, “to run”); Proto-Germanic *tradō (“way, track, spoor”). Related to δραμεῖν (drameîn), a suppletive aorist of τρέχω (trékhō, “to run”).^[1]

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dró.mos/ → /ˈðro.mos/ → /ˈðro.mos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dró.mos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdro.mos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðro.mos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðro.mos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðro.mos/

Noun

δρόμος • (drómos) m (genitive δρόμου); second declension (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Doric, Koine)

1. race, running
2. racetrack
3. course, path
   • 93/94, Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 1, 31, in Henry St. John Thackeray (tr. & ed.), Josephus with an English translation, vol. 4 (Jewish Antiquities, books I–IV), LCL, pages 14-17. Translation by Thackeray.

     τῇ τετάρτῃ δὲ διακοσμεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄστροις κινήσεις αὐτοῖς ἐπιστείλας καὶ δρόμους, οἷς ἂν αἱ τῶν ὡρῶν περιφοραὶ σημαίνοιντο.

     têi tetártēi dè diakosmeî tòn ouranòn hēlíōi kaì selḗnēi kaì toîs állois ástrois kinḗseis autoîs episteílas kaì drómous, hoîs àn hai tôn hōrôn periphoraì sēmaínointo.

     On the fourth he adorned the heaven with sun and moon and the other stars, prescribing their motions and courses to indicate the revolutions of the seasons.

Declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δρόμος ho drómos	τὼ δρόμω tṑ drómō	οἱ δρόμοι hoi drómoi
Genitive	τοῦ δρόμου toû drómou	τοῖν δρόμοιν toîn drómoin	τῶν δρόμων tôn drómōn
Dative	τῷ δρόμῳ tôi drómōi	τοῖν δρόμοιν toîn drómoin	τοῖς δρόμοις toîs drómois
Accusative	τὸν δρόμον tòn drómon	τὼ δρόμω tṑ drómō	τοὺς δρόμους toùs drómous
Vocative	δρόμε dróme	δρόμω drómō	δρόμοι drómoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of ὁ δρόμος; τοῦ δρόμου (Attic)

Derived terms

• ἁρματοδρομία (harmatodromía)
• δολῐχοδρόμος (dolĭkhodrómos)
• ἔκδρομος (ékdromos)
• ἱππόδρομος (hippódromos)
• παλίνδρομος (palíndromos)
• συνδρομή (sundromḗ)

Descendants

• Byzantine Greek:
  • Greek: δρόμος (drómos) (see there for further descendants)
  • Romani: drom
    • Caló: dron
• → English: -drome
• → English: dromos
• → French: -drome
• → Italian: dromos
• → Italian: dromo
• → Latin: dromus

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “δρόμος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 354-5

Further reading

• “δρόμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δρόμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “δρόμος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• δρόμος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• δρόμος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• δρόμος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “δρόμος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1408 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• δρόμος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • canter idem, page 111.
  • career idem, page 113.
  • charge idem, page 125.
  • course idem, page 178.
  • dash idem, page 196.
  • foot-race idem, page 334.
  • gallop idem, page 353.
  • heat idem, page 392.
  • lap idem, page 476.
  • orbit idem, page 578.
  • path idem, page 598.
  • promenade idem, page 653.
  • race idem, page 667.
  • racing idem, page 667.
  • roaming idem, page 718.
  • roving idem, page 723.
  • run idem, page 726.
  • running idem, page 727.
  • rush idem, page 727.
  • spurt idem, page 807.
  • trot idem, page 896.
  • wandering idem, page 961.

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈðɾo.mos/
• Hyphenation: δρό‧μος

Noun

δρόμος • (drómos) m (plural δρόμοι)

1. roadway, road, street, way
2. journey

Declension

Declension of δρόμος

	singular	plural
nominative	δρόμος (drómos)	δρόμοι (drómoi)
genitive	δρόμου (drómou)	δρόμων (drómon)
accusative	δρόμο (drómo)	δρόμους (drómous)
vocative	δρόμε (dróme)	δρόμοι (drómoi)

Coordinate terms

• οδός f (odós, “urban road”)
• στράτα f (stráta, “street”)
• λεωφόρος f (leofóros, “avenue”)

Derived terms

• αμαξιτός δρόμος m (amaxitós drómos, “rough road”, literally “coach road”)
• δρόμος χωρίς διόδια (drómos chorís diódia, “freeway, toll-free road”)
• κατσικόδρομος m (katsikódromos, “goat track”)
• να ανοίξει το δρόμο (na anoíxei to drómo, “to pave the way”)
• σταυροδρόμι n (stavrodrómi, “crossroads”)

Descendants

• → Albanian: drom
• → Romanian: drum
• → Serbo-Croatian: drum