English
Armageddon
Armageddon comes from Late Latin Harmagedōn ‘Armageddon, the site of the final battle in…’, and goes back to Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἉρμαγεδώνHarmagedṓn
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEHarmagedōn‘Armageddon, the site of the final battle in the book of Revelation’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ermagedon
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Hermagedon
- Englishearliest quotation 1526Armageddon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἉρμαγεδώνHarmagedṓn
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEHarmagedōn‘Armageddon, the site of the final battle in the book of Revelation’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150Ermagedon
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Hermagedon
- Englishearliest quotation 1526Armageddon
Earliest quotation: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “For they are the ſprettes off devyls workynge myracles⸝…”
The story
The proper noun is from Middle English Hermagedon, from Old English Ermagedon, from Late Latin Harmagedōn, from Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in the New Testament of the Bible (see the quotations) to render Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megído, “Mount Megiddo, the place where the final battle before the Last Judgment is predicted to occur”) from הַר (har, “mountain”) + מְגִידּוֹ (megído, “Megiddo or Meggidon, ancient city of Canaan”). The Bible does not directly refer to Mount Megiddo, but only to a plain (or “valley”) of Megiddo where the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II killed King Josiah of Judah during the Battle of Megiddo in 609 B.C.E. (2 Chronicles 35:20–24; see also 2 Kings 23:29), leading to “great mourning” (Zechariah 12:11). On the other hand, Revelation 19:17–19, which describes an angel calling birds to feed on the flesh of those who have died in the final battle, alludes to Ezekiel 38:17 in which God is described as calling on birds and animals to gather for Gog and Magog’s attack on Israel which will lead to “a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood” (spelling modernized and emphasis added). Armageddon as the mountain of Megiddo appears to be a conflation of these two concepts.
Every English word from Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών
Today it means
name Mount Megiddo, a hill in modern Israel near the kibbutz of Megiddo, which is the site of a prophesized final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών / Armageddon