abderitt

Norwegian Bokmål

Abderite, a reference to Democritus, native of Abdera, here depicted in the statue Democritus meditating on the seat of the soul.

Etymology

From German Abderit (“Abderite”), from Latin Abderita, Abderites, from Ancient Greek Ἀβδηρίτης (Abdērítēs), from Ἄβδηρα (Ábdēra, “Abdera”), from a Phoenician word + -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, “demonymic suffix”), a back-formation of πολῑ́της (polī́tēs), from both πόλις (pólis, “city, community”), from Proto-Hellenic *ptólis (“city”), from Proto-Indo-European *tpólHis, from *tpelH- (“fortification, city”) + and from -της (-tēs, forms demonyms), from Proto-Hellenic *-tās, probably from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ and *-tós (forms verbal adjectives).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abdəˈrɪt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt
• Hyphenation: ab‧de‧ritt

Noun

abderitt m (definite singular abderitten, indefinite plural abderitter, definite plural abderittene)

1. (historical) an Abderite (an inhabitant or native of Abdera, in Thrace, a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe, now divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey)
   • 1890, Marcus Jacob Monrad, Æsthetik II, page 483:

     den classiske oldtid havde f.ex. sine abderiter, vi have vore fjeldmænd, jyder o.s.v.

     the classical antiquity had e.g. its abderites, we have our mountaineers, Jews, etc.

   • 1896, Henrik Jæger, Illustreret norsk literaturhistorie I, page 497:

     Wieland’s bekjendte fortælling om de græske «molboer», abderitterne

     Wieland’s well-known tale of the Greek “molboer”, the abderites

2. (colloquial, derogatory) a simple-minded person

   Synonym: molbo

Usage notes

An ancient belief was that "the people of Abdera are fools and madmen" (stulti et insani Abderitae).

Derived terms

• abderittisk (“abderian”)

References

• “abderitt” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “abderitt” in Store norske leksikon