μέδος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Likely represents a Slavic or Germanic word (if the latter, probably Gothic or a related East Germanic dialect); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu.

Noun

μέδος • (médos) m

1. (hapax) mead

   Ἐχορηγοῦντο δὲ ἡμῖν κατὰ κώμας τροφαὶ, ἀντὶ μὲν σίτου κέγχρος, ἀντὶ δὲ οἴνου ὁ μέδος ἐπιχωρίως καλούμενος.

   Ekhorēgoûnto dè hēmîn katà kṓmas trophaì, antì mèn sítou kénkhros, antì dè oínou ho médos epikhōríōs kaloúmenos.

   Refreshments were supplied to us in the villages, with grain being called 'millet', and wine 'mead', according to the local tradition.

Usage notes

• Mentioned only once (by Priscus, 5th century AD), as the name of a drink foreigners somewhere on the way from Greece to the court of Attila the Hun had instead of wine.

Further reading

• “μέδος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μέδος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette