Noun
dromos (plural dromoi or dromi)
- (historical) An avenue, especially in Ancient Greece.
- (historical) A walkway to a building, (especially) a ceremonial walkway to a temple or tomb in Ancient Greece or Egypt.
1829 April 23, “Champollion’s Egyptian Expedition”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, page 351:On the 20th [of December, 1828] they remained an hour at Oudi-Essebours or the Valley of Lions, thus named from the Sphinxes which ornament the dromos of a monument constructed under the reign of Sesostris, but a mere provincial edifice, built of stone cemented with mortar.
1847, Karl Otfried Müller, “Egyptian Art”, in John Leitch, transl., Ancient Art and Its Remains; Or, A Manual of the Archæology of Art, new edition, London: A. Fullarton and Co., translation of Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst (in German), published 1850, page 216:In Lower Egypt : Busiris (Ruins near el Bahbeyt) ; Heliopolis or On [near Matarieh], only an obelisk still extant ; Tanis (San), a dromos of granite columns ; Sais [Sa el Haggar], considerable ruins, particularly of the Necropolis ; Taposiris [Abusir].
1904, “Thera: An Early Necropolis”, in American Journal of Archaeology, volume VIII, page 108:The grave chambers are usually quadrangular, with stone walls, roofs formed by projecting stones, and doors which were walled up. There is no dromos.
- (historical) A racecourse, especially in Ancient Greece.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdrɔ.mos/
- Rhymes: -ɔmos
- Hyphenation: drò‧mos
Further reading
- dromos in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana