Promethean en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Received-Pronunciation) audio
- /pɹəˈmiː.θɪ.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (General-American) audio
- /pɹəˈmi.θi.ən/ (General-American)
- /pɹoʊ-/ (General-American)
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Prometheus (“demigod in Greek mythology”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns). Prometheus is a learned borrowing from Latin Promētheus, and from its etymon Ancient Greek Προμηθεύς (Promētheús), from προμηθής (promēthḗs, “having forethought”) (from προ- (pro-, prefix meaning ‘before’) + μᾰνθᾰ́νω (mănthắnō, “to learn; to know, understand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to mind; to think”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”), in the sense of putting one’s mind to something)) + -εύς (-eús, suffix forming a masculine noun of the person concerned with a thing). The noun is derived from the adjective.
Meanings
-
Of or pertaining to Prometheus, a demigod in Greek mythology who created mortals from clay and stole fire from Zeus to give to them, for which Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle feed on his liver which grew back each night; he was later rescued by Heracles.
More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.
2006 September, Edwin Black, “Power Struggle”, in Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 11:And see how the Promethean liver grows / As vulture Grief devours it; see fresh shows / Revive woe's sense and multiply her soul; […]
1612, George Chapman, “Epicedium; or, A Funeral Song”, in Richard Herne Shepherd, editor, The Works of George Chapman: Poems and Minor Translations. […], London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1875, →OCLC, page 174, column 1:Theſe vultures in my Breſt / Gripe my Promethian heart both night and day; /
1635, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “Canto XIV. Cant[icle of Canticles] II. III.”, in Emblemes, London: […] G[eorge] M[iller] and sold at at Iohn Marriots shope […], →OCLC, book V, stanza 2, page 255:And, like Promethian life-begetting flame, / Pure bodies in the element should frame; / As to what part of heauen they hapt to stray, / There should they make another milkie way.
1596, Michael Drayton, “Mortimeriados. The Lamentable Ciuell Warres of Edward the Second and the Barrons.”, in J[ohn] Payne Collier, editor, Poems by Michael Drayton. […], London: […] J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols and Sons, […] [for the Roxburghe Club], published 1856, →OCLC, page 273:
-
Of or pertaining to Prometheus, a demigod in Greek mythology who created mortals from clay and stole fire from Zeus to give to them, for which Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle feed on his liver which grew back each night; he was later rescued by Heracles. ▸ Boldly creative, inventive, or original; skilful, talented; also, recklessly daring; audacious.
[I]t vvould be helpfull to us if vve might borrovv ſuch autority as the Rhetoricians by patent may give us, vvith a kind of Promethean skill to ſhape and faſhion this outvvard man into the ſimilitude of a body, and ſet him viſible before us; imagining the inner man only as the ſoul.
1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Prelatical Jurisdiction Opposeth the Reason and End of the Gospel and of State”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 50:Therefore Promethean poets with the coals / Of their most genial, more-than-human souls / In living verse, created men like these, / With shapes of Centaurs, Harpies, Lapithes, […]
1594, George Chapman, “The Shadow of Night”, in Richard Herne Shepherd, editor, The Works of George Chapman: Poems and Minor Translations. […], London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1875, →OCLC, page 5, column 2:The culture of the proletariat must borrow nothing from the tradition of the privileged classes but must make a Promethean effort to create ex nihilo, paying attention to its own needs and to nothing else whatever.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 443:
- Of or pertaining to Prometheus, a demigod in Greek mythology who created mortals from clay and stole fire from Zeus to give to them, for which Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle feed on his liver which grew back each night; he was later rescued by Heracles. ▸ Of a Romantic literary hero: defying traditional moral categories; rebelling against a larger order; persecuted but dauntless.
- (rare) Of or pertaining to the promethea silkmoth (Callosamia promethea).
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more Promethean | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most Promethean | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (15)
fi Callosamia promethea -koihin liittyvä (of or pertaining to Callosamia promethea) · sv prometeisk (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · nl prometheïsch (boldly creative, inventive, or original — see also creative, inventive, original) · fr prométhéen (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · nl prometheïsch (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · mk прометејски (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · fi prometeaaninen (of a Romantic literary hero: defying traditional moral categories, etc.) · fi omintakeinen (boldly creative, inventive, or original — see also creative, inventive, original) · fi prometeaaninen (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · cs prométheovský (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · fi Prometheuksen (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · it prometeico (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · es prometeico (of or pertaining to Prometheus) · nl prometheïsch (of a Romantic literary hero: defying traditional moral categories, etc.) · cy Prometheaidd (of or pertaining to Prometheus)