Peloponnese
/ˌpɛl.ə.pəˈniːz/noun
A peninsula in southern Greece, traditionally regarded as the homeland of the ancient Greek heroes and city-states.
Did you know?The name comes from Pelops, a mythic king associated with the founding of the Olympic Games, although the peninsula is geographically connected to mainland Greece by an isthmus.
Etymological Timeline
Mycenaean Greek tradition
Greek
Pélops
“Pelops, a legendary king and mythological ancestor of the Pelopid dynasty; the name’s deeper origin is uncertain.”
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
Πελοπόννησος (Pelopónnēsos)
“Island of Pelops; from Pélops plus nêsos, “island.””
5th–4th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
ἡ Πελοπόννησος
“The Peloponnese, the southern Greek peninsula, commonly treated by Greeks as Pelops’s island.”
Roman Period
Latin
Peloponnesus
“The Peloponnese; a Latin rendering of the Greek name.”
Middle English
English
Pelopones
“The Greek peninsula, borrowed through Latin and French forms.”
Modern English
English
Peloponnese
“The southern peninsula of Greece, also historically called the Morea.”
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