Hecate

See also: Hécate and Hècate

English

Alternative forms

various rare or obsolete forms

• Ecate, Echate [15th century]
• Hecat, Hecat’, Heccat, Hekat [17th century]
• Hecatê, Hecaté, Hecatè, Hekate (uncommon)

Etymology

Via Latin Hecatē from Ancient Greek Ἑκάτη (Hekátē), possibly the feminine equivalent of Ἑκατός (Hekatós) or ἑκάεργος (hekáergos), an obscure epithet of Apollo, variously interpreted as "one who works/operates from afar", "one who drives off", "the far reaching one" or "the far-darter". Some rather suggest that the name derives from Ancient Greek ἑκών (hekṓn, “will”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: hĕʹkətē, hĕʹkǐt, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛkəti/, /ˈhɛkɪt/
• (UK) enPR: hĕʹkətē, IPA^(key): /ˈhɛkəti/
• Rhymes: (US) -ɛkɪt

Proper noun

Hecate

1. The powerful goddess, in Greek mythology, of magic, crossroads, fire, light, the moon, and the underworld. Her Roman counterpart is Trivia.
2. (astronomy) 100 Hekate, a main belt asteroid.

Coordinate terms

• (Greco-Roman moon goddess): Trivia, Artemis/Diana, Selene/Luna, Theia, Phoebe, Pandia, the Menae
• (goddesses of the dead): Melinoe/Mania, Macaria, Persephone/Proserpina

Translations

Greek goddess

• Armenian: Հեկատե (hy) (Hekate), Հեկատա (Hekata)
• Catalan: Hècate f
• Danish: Hekate
• French: Hécate (fr) f
• Georgian: ჰეკატე (heḳaṭe)
• Greek: Εκάτη (el) f (Ekáti)

  Ancient: Ἑκάτη f (Hekátē)

• Greenlandic: Hekate
• Hungarian: Hekaté
• Inuktitut: ᐦᐄᑲᑎ (hiikati)
• Marathi: हेकाटे f (hekāṭe)
• Polish: Hekate (pl) f, Hekata (pl) f
• Portuguese: Hécate f
• Russian: Гека́та (ru) f (Gekáta)
• Serbo-Croatian: Хеката, Hekata (sh)
• Spanish: Hécate f
• Ukrainian: Гека́та f (Hekáta)

Anagrams

• cheeta, teache, thecae

Latin

Alternative forms

• Hecata

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἑκᾰ́τη (Hekátē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈhe.ka.teː/, [ˈhɛkät̪eː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ka.te/, [ˈɛːkät̪e]

Proper noun

Hecatē f sg (genitive Hecatēs); first declension

1. (Greek mythology) Hecate; daughter of the Titan Perses and Titaness Asteria (sister of Latona); the presider over enchantments, conjurations; a goddess of magic, the night moon, the underworld, and of the haunted crossroad; variously conflated with Roman deities Diana Trivia (crossroads), Luna (moonlight), and Proserpina (Hades)

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type), singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Hecatē
Genitive	Hecatēs
Dative	Hecatae
Accusative	Hecatēn
Ablative	Hecatē
Vocative	Hecatē

Derived terms

• Hecatēius
• Hecatēïs

Further reading

• “Hecate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Hecate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 738.
• Hecate in Georges, Karl Ernst, Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918) Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, column 3022
• “Hecate”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers