# hero
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English heroes, from Old French heroes, from Latin hērōs (“hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”). Related to Latin servo (“protect”). Displaced Middle English heleð, haleð, from Old English hæleþ, hæle.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ/, [ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ~ˈçɪə.ɹəʊ]
* (General American) IPA: /ˈhɪɹ.oʊ/, /ˈhiɹ.oʊ/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* (Canada) IPA: /ˈhɛɹ.oʊ/
* Hyphenation: he‧ro
* Rhymes: -ɪəɹəʊ

### Noun

hero (plural heroes or (sandwich sense) heros)
* Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.
** 1986 August 10, “Cancer victim some kind of hero”, in The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA:"I'm no hero," insists freckle-faced 14-year-old Freddie Hanberry. But to many of the young cancer patients, nurses and staff at University Medical Center here, he is as close as you can get. The "hero" talk began when a national magazine featured Hanberry, who has leukemia, in a special section called "100 New American Heroes."
** 1993, Susanne Baxandall with Prasuna Reddy, The Courage to Care: The Impact of Cancer on the Family:Every cancer victim is a true hero.
** 2011 September 12, Eileen Faust, “5-year-old Phoenixville cancer victim loses fight”, in The Mercury:She is my hero, my heart, my baby till the end of time,” said Gabby's father
** 2011 September 12, Jen Armstrong, “Sherrill honors heroes of 9/11”, in Oneida Dispatch:Each flag represents a hero, Andrews said, whether a first responder or victim of 9/11, active, fallen, or retired military, special friend or family member.
** 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 1948, page 43:At the time, with the D-Day invasion of Europe going on, their heroism was hardly noticed. Plenty of other heroes were dying elsewhere. Plenty of bigger bits of history were being made.
* A role model.
* The protagonist in a work of fiction.
** 1987, Kamil Zvelebil, Two Tamil Folktales: The Story of King Matan̲akāma, The Story of Peacock Rāvaṇa, →ISBN, page xlii:However, even this great hero of the story is somewhat of a simpleton (when he lets himself be crucially deceived by Peacock Ravana in Vibhisana's shape), and a weakling (when in spite of all his strength he is almost beaten by his own son, one of the rākṣasas)
** 1992, Karuna Shanker Mishra, The Tragic Hero Through the Ages, page 242:Satan is wrongly called the hero of Paradise Lost. He is really the villain-hero or the counter-hero
* (poker) The current player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: villain (“any opponent player”). Not to be confused with hero call (“a weak call against a supposed bluff”).
    Let's discuss how to play if the hero has KK, and there's an ace on board.
* (New York) A large sandwich made from meats and cheeses; a hero sandwich.
* (film, photography, chiefly attributive) The product chosen from several candidates to be photographed, as in food advertising, or with props used in a movie.
** 2003, Solomon H. Katz, William Woys Weaver, Encyclopedia of Food and Culture:The preparation of the hero food involves any number of specialized techniques food stylists have developed to deal with the demands of photographing food.
** 2008, Linda Bellingham, Jean Ann Bybee, Brad G. Rogers, Food Styling for Photographers, page 8:Protect the hero food. Whether the hero items are on a table in the studio or in the refrigerator, freezer, etc., be sure they are identified as hero items and not for consumption.
** 2008, David Random, Defying Gravity, page 24:The food stylists this day had spent inordinate amounts of time preparing the hero product for a close-up scene.
* (web design) The eye-catching top portion of a web page, sometimes including a hero image; the portion above the fold.

#### Synonyms

* see Thesaurus:hero
* (sandwich): see sub

#### Coordinate terms

* heroine (“hero (female)”)

#### Derived terms

* action hero
* an hero
* antihero
* Byronic hero
* Clitar Hero
* culture hero
* dark hero
* folk hero
* go from zero to hero
* have-a-go hero
* hero ball
* hero-cane
* hero city
* hero complex
* heroic
* heroics
* heroise, heroize
* heroism
* hero shooter
* hero shot
* hero shrew
* hero worship
* local hero
* monarchical hero
* never meet your heroes
* North Hero
* solar hero
* superhero
* tragic hero
* unsung hero
* ur-hero
* war hero

#### Descendants

* → Hindi: हीरो (hīro)
* → Japanese: ヒーロー (hīrō)
* → Korean: 히어로 (hieoro)
* → Thai: ฮีโร่ (hii-rôo)

#### Translations

Abkhaz: афырхаҵа (afərxacʼa)
Adyghe: батыр (batər)
Afrikaans: held
Albanian: trim (sq) m, hero (sq) m, kreshnik (sq) m, kreshnike (sq) f
Amharic: ጀግና (ǧägna)
Arabic: بَطَل m (baṭal), بَطَلَة f (baṭala), أَبْطَال m pl (ʔabṭāl)
Aragonese: heroi m
Armenian: հերոս (hy) (heros), (epical) դյուցազն (hy) (dyucʻazn)
Aromanian: búrã m
Asturian: héroe m
Avar: багьадур (bahadur)
Azerbaijani: qəhrəman (az), qoçaq (az), igid (az)
Bashkir: баһадир (bahadir), батыр (batır)
Basque: heroi (eu)
Belarusian: геро́й m (hjerój), гераі́ня f (hjeraínja)
Bengali: বীর (bn) (bir), আদর্শ পুরূষ (adorśo puruś)
Breton: gouron (br) m
Bulgarian: геро́й (bg) m (gerój), герои́ня f (geroínja), юна́к m (junák), юнаки́ня f (junakínja)
Burmese: လူစွမ်းကောင်း (my) (lucwam:kaung:)
Catalan: heroi (ca) m, heroïna (ca) f
Cebuano: bagani
Chechen: please add this translation if you can
Cherokee: ᎠᏥᎸᏉᏗ (atsilvquodi)
Chichewa: ngwazi
Chinese:
Cantonese: 英雄 (jing$^1$ hung$^4$), 勇士 (jung$^5$ si$^6$)
Dungan: йинщун (yinxun) (英雄)
Eastern Min: 英雄 (ĭng-hṳ̀ng)
Hokkien: 勇者 (zh-min-nan) (ióng-chiá), 英雄 (zh-min-nan) (eng-hiông)
Mandarin: 英雄 (zh) (yīngxióng), 勇士 (zh) (yǒngshì)
Chukchi: пыԓԓиӈыԓьын (pyḷḷiṇyḷʹyn)
Chuvash: паттăр (pattăr)
Corsican: eroe
Czech: hrdina (cs) m, hrdinka (cs) f
Danish: helt c, heltinde c (female)
Dutch: held (nl) m, heldin (nl) f
Egyptian: (qn m), (pr ꜥ m)
Erzya: мараля m (maraľa), марава f (marava)
Esperanto: heroo, heroiĉo (neologism, male), heroino (female)
Estonian: kangelane, sangar
Faroese: hetja f
Finnish: sankari (fi), sankaritar (fi) (female), urho (fi) (poetic, male), sankar (fi) (dialectal, poetic)
French: héros (fr) m, héroïne (fr) f
Friulian: please add this translation if you can
Galician: heroi m, heroe (gl) m
Georgian: გმირი (ka) (gmiri)
German: Held (de) m, Heldin (de) f, Kriegsheld (de) m (war), Kriegsheldin (de) f (war)
Greek: ήρωας (el) m (íroas), ηρωίδα (el) f (iroḯda)
Ancient: ἥρως (hḗrōs)
Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
Hausa: please add this translation if you can
Hawaiian: meʻe
Hebrew: גִּבּוֹר (he) m (gibór), גִּבּוֹרָה (he) f (giborá)
Hindi: नायक (hi) m (nāyak), वीर (hi) m (vīr), हीरो m (hīro), महावीर (hi) m (mahāvīr), शूरवीर (hi) m (śūrvīr), महापुरुष (hi) m (mahāpuruṣ), आदर्श पुरुष m (ādarś puruṣ), बहादुर (hi) m (bahādur), सूरमा (hi) m (sūrmā), वीरपुरुष m (vīrpuruṣ), धीर (hi) m (dhīr), पहलवान (hi) m (pahlavān)
Hungarian: hős (hu)
Icelandic: hetja (is)
Ido: heroo (io), heroulo (io) (male), heroino (io) (female)
Indonesian: pahlawan (id)
Interlingua: heroe
Irish: laoch (ga) m, gaiscíoch m
Italian: eroe (it) m, eroina (it) f
Japanese: 英雄 (ja) (えいゆう, eiyū), 勇者 (ja) (ゆうしゃ, yūsha), ヒーロー (ja) (hīrō)
Javanese: prawira (jv)
Kannada: ಮಹಾಪುರುಷ (kn) (mahāpuruṣa)
Kazakh: қаһарман (qaharman), батыр (batyr), ер (kk) (er)
Khmer: វីរបុរស (viirĕəʼborɑh), វីរជន (viirĕəʼcŭən), អ្នកក្លាហាន (km) (nĕək klaa haan)
Korean: 영웅(英雄) (ko) (yeong'ung), 히어로 (ko) (hieoro)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: قارەمان (qareman)
Northern Kurdish: qehreman (ku)
Kyrgyz: каарман (ky) (kaarman), баатыр (ky) (baatır)
Ladino: ero m
Lao: ວີລະບຸລຸດ (wī la bu lut)
Latin: hērōs m, hērōis f
Latvian: varonis m, varone f
Lithuanian: didvyris (lt) m, didvyrė (lt) f, didvyriai m pl
Luxembourgish: Held m
Macedonian: ју́нак m (júnak), јуна́киња f (junákinja), хе́рој m (héroj), херои́на f (heroína), хра́брец m (hrábrec)
Malay: wira (ms)
Malayalam: ധീരൻ (ml) (dhīraṉ)
Maltese: eroj m
Manchu: ᠪᠠᡨᡠᡵᡠ (baturu)
Maori: toa (mi)
Marathi: वीर m (vīr)
Middle English: athel
Middle Korean: 바톨〮 (pàthwól)
Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: баатар (mn) (baatar)
Navajo: bíʼátʼíní
Nepali: बीर (bīra), वीर (vīra)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: helt (no) m, heltinne (no) m or f
Nynorsk: helt m, heltinne f
Occitan: eròi (oc) m
Odia: ବୀରପୁରୁଷ (birapurusha)
Old English: hæle m
Ossetian: герой (geroj)
Ottoman Turkish: آلپ (alp), یكیت (yigit), قهرمان (kahraman), قوچاق (koçak), پهلوان (pehlevân, pehlivân)
Pannonian Rusyn: герой m (heroj), юнак m (junak)
Pashto: اتل (ps) m (atël), اتله f (atëla), قهرمان (ps) m (qahramān), بهادر (ps) m (bahador)
Persian:
Iranian Persian: قَهْرَمان (ğahramân), یَل (yal), بَهادُر (bahâdor), گُرْد (gord), پَهْلِوان (pahlevân), بَطَل (batal)
Plautdietsch: Helt m
Polish: bohater (pl) m, bohaterka (pl) f, heros (pl) m
Portuguese: herói (pt) m, heroína (pt) f
Punjabi: ਹੀਰੋ (hīro), ਜੁਝਾਰੂ (jujhārū), ਬਹਾਦਰ (bahādar), ਸੂਰਮੇ (sūrme)
Purepecha: k'uanhari
Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
Romanian: erou (ro) m, eroină (ro) f
Russian: геро́й (ru) m (gerój), герои́ня (ru) f (geroínja)
Sanskrit: वीर (sa) m (vīra), प्रवीर (sa) m (pravīra)
Scottish Gaelic: gaisgeach m, laoch m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ју̀на̄к m, јуна̀киња f, хѐро̄ј m, херои́на f
Roman: jùnāk (sh) m, junàkinja (sh) f, hèrōj (sh) m, heroína (sh) f
Sicilian: iroi
Sinhalese: වීරයා (wīrayā)
Slovak: hrdina (sk) m, hrdinka (sk) f
Slovene: junak (sl) m, heroj m, junakinja f, heroina f
Spanish: héroe (es) m, heroína (es) f
Sumerian: 𒌨𒊕 (UR.SAG)
Swahili: shujaa (sw)
Swedish: hjälte (sv) c, hjältinna (sv) c (female)
Tagalog: bayani (tl)
Tajik: қаҳрамон (qahramon), баҳодур (bahodur), ял (yal), гурд (gurd), паҳлавон (pahlavon), батал (batal)
Tamil: வீரன் (ta) (vīraṉ)
Tatar: баһадир (tt) (bahadir), батыр (tt) (batır), каһарман (tt) (qaharman)
Telugu: వీరుడు (te) (vīruḍu), కథానాయకుడు (te) (kathānāyakuḍu)
Thai: วีรบุรุษ (th) (wii-rá-bù-rùt), ฮีโร่ (hii-rôo)
Tibetan: དཔའ་བ (dpa' ba)
Tocharian B: etre
Turkish: kahraman (tr), yiğit (tr), alp (tr), bahadır (tr)
Turkmen: gahryman, gero, batyr (tk)
Tuvan: кулугуруң (kuluguruñ), маадыр (maadır)
Ukrainian: геро́й (uk) m (herój), герої́ня f (herojínja)
Urdu: نائِک m (nāik), نایَک m (nāyak), وِیر m (vīr), بَہادُر m (bahādur), قَہْرْمان m (qahrmān), پَہْلَوان m (pahlavān), بَطَل m (batal)
Uyghur: قەھرىمان (qehriman), باتۇر (ug) (batur), باھادىر (bahadir)
Uzbek: qahramon (uz), pahlavon (uz), botir (uz), bahodir (uz)
Vietnamese: anh hùng (vi) (英雄)
Volapük: (♂♀) heroedan (vo), (♂) hiheroedan, (♀) jiheroedan
Walloon: ero (wa), hérô
Welsh: arwr (cy), gwron
West Frisian: held c
Yiddish: העלד m (held), גבור m (giber) :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* kamikaze
* martyr
* shaheed

### References

* ↑ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000)
* ↑ Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition (1999)

### Anagrams

* rheo-, Roeh, heor, Rohe, hoer, rohe

## German
### Adverb

hero
* (archaic) Alternative form of her

### Further reading

* “hero” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

## Luo
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Verb

hero
* to love

## Middle English
### Determiner

hero
* Alternative form of here (“their”)