Thebanadj.n.
/ˈθiːbən/ A. adj.
1. Of or belonging to Thebes, capital of ancient Bœotia in Greece.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > named cities or towns > [adjective] > in Greece > ancient cities
Thebanc1374
Pylian1590
Argive1598
Mantinean1598
Mytilenean1724
Tegean1767
Mycenaean1842
c1374 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 85 This theban knyght..Was yonge.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 601 So cruwel..vn-to þe blood Thebane.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace Art of Poetry 533 Thus rose the Theban Wall; Amphion's Lyre, And soothing Voice the listening Stones inspire.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck iii. 43 To curb thy spirit with a Theban chain.
1861 F. A. Paley in tr. Æschylus Seven against Thebes in Trag. (ed. 2) 240 (note) The association of Theban gods..Pallas, Hera, Artemis,..Poseidon, Aphrodite, &c.
2. Of or belonging to Thebes, ancient capital of Upper Egypt; = Thebaic adj.1 Theban drug, opium or laudanum; Theban marble, Theban porphyry = thebaic adj.2 stone; Theban year, the Egyptian year of 365¼ days.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > named cities or towns > [adjective] > in North Africa > ancient
Punicalc1450
Punic1533
Carthaginian1594
Punicean1600
Thebana1684
Thebaic1687
Thebaïd1839
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 371 The Architrave of the Portico [of the Roman Pantheon], sustain'd by 13 Pilars of Theban Marble.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Thebanus ophites..that species of the..serpentine marble more commonly called ophites niger, the black serpentine.]
1768 C. Shaw Monody Memory Young Lady xvi Come, Theban drug, the wretch's only aid, To my torn heart its former peace restore.
1833 E. Burton Lect. Eccl. Hist. ii. xxviii. 414 The martyrdom of the Theban legion..may be said to have taken place about the year 286, when Herculeus was on his march into Gaul.
1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 435/2 Theban Porphyry was black with yellow spots.
1962 E. Colledge Mediæval Mystics Eng. 15 The hermit settlements of the Theban desert.
B. n.
1. (also †Thebien). A native or inhabitant of Bœotian Thebes, a Bœotian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of ancient or medieval Europe > ancient Greeks and neighbours > [noun] > native or inhabitant of states, regions, or cities
Thebienc1374
Spartiatec1384
myrmidonc1425
Spartanc1425
Phocianc1487
Argive?1532
Locrian1536
Locrensian1542
Achaean1550
Mantinean1550
Mytilenean1550
Tegeate1584
Pylian1585
Epidaurian?1589
Thessalian1608
Olympian1609
Sicyonian1642
Samothracian1653
Dorian1662
Attic1699
Tegean1709
c1374 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 60.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1712 Thise two Thebans vp on eyther syde.
c1420 Wars Alex. (Prose) 34 Þe Thebienes also þat were so wyse, and so grete exercyse hadde in armes.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 144 Ile talke a word with this most learned Theban . View more context for this quotation
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (1851) I. 320/2 They proclaimed liberty to the Thebans.
1820 T. Mitchell in tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 103 (note) Flute-music..was stigmatised as Theban-like, and consequently unfit for a gentleman.
1880 A. C. Swinburne Study of Shakespeare 183 To the simpler eyes of less learned Thebans than these—Thebes, by the way, was Dryden's irreverent name for Cambridge.
2. The variety of Greek spoken in Bœotian Thebes. poetic. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Greek > Greek dialects
common dialect1604
Aeolic1606
Ionic1606
Ionic dialect1629
Athenian1638
Theban1820
Laconian1830
Doric1837
Rumelian1859
Pamphylian1880
Tsakonian1902
Pontic1910
Thessalian1910
koine1913
Messenian1928
Macedonian1933
Mycenaean1955
1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus ii. 44 In plain Theban, that is to say, My name's John Bull.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.c1374