Where does “Hero” come from?

Hero comes from Ancient Greek Ἡρώ, a figure from Greek mythology whose original meaning remains uncertain.

Hero (English): Any of a number of legendary men and women, including the priestess loved by Leander

Definitions

  1. Any of a number of legendary men and women, including the priestess loved by Leander

Ancestry of “Hero”, step by step

Hero traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English heroes

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishheroes—
2Old Frenchheroes—
3Latinhērōsdemigod, hero
4Ancient Greekἥρωςa hero of the Trojan War: any of the major...
5Proto-Indo-Europeansēr-to flow
6Proto-Indo-Europeanser-to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together

via Ancient Greek Ἡρώ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient GreekἩρώ—
2Ancient Greek-ωending of the first-person singular thematic present
3Proto-Indo-European-étiForms

Words derived from “Hero”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ser- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European sēr- →Every word from Ancient Greek ἥρως →