Learn Greek › C1 › βρικόλακας
βρικόλακας
vampire /vriˈkolakas/
nounC1#3535 most common
Also: revenant, undead corpse
Example sentences
Ο βρικόλακας είναι κακός.
The vampire is bad.
Στην ταινία υπάρχει ένας βρικόλακας.
In the movie there is a vampire.
Τα παιδιά φοβούνται τους βρικόλακες το βράδυ.
The children are afraid of vampires at night.
Σύμφωνα με τον θρύλο, ο βρικόλακας βγαίνει από τον τάφο του τη νύχτα.
According to the legend, the vrykolakas comes out of his grave at night.
Στη λαϊκή παράδοση των ελληνικών νησιών, ο βρικόλακας θεωρούνταν νεκρός που δεν είχε ταφεί σωστά.
In the folk tradition of the Greek islands, the vrykolakas was seen as a dead person who had not been buried properly.
Οι παλιότερες μαρτυρίες για βρικόλακες συνδέονταν συχνά με επιδημίες, αφού οι κάτοικοι απέδιδαν τους ανεξήγητους θανάτους στην επιστροφή των νεκρών.
The oldest accounts of vrykolakes were often tied to epidemics, since villagers blamed unexplained deaths on the return of the dead.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ο βρικόλακας | οι βρικόλακες |
| Genitive | του βρικόλακα | των βρικολάκων |
| Accusative | τον βρικόλακα | τους βρικόλακες |
| Vocative | βρικόλακα | βρικόλακες |
Word family
βρικολακιάζωto turn into a vrykolakas, to haunt as one
βρικολακιασμένοςturned into a revenant, ghoulish
βρικολακίστικοςvampire-like, eerie
Etymology
Greek borrowed the word from South Slavic, where a compound meaning roughly wolf-skin described a werewolf. In the Balkans and on the Greek islands the meaning shifted from werewolf to a restless, undecayed corpse that leaves its grave. By the time the word settled into Greek folklore, it named a specific kind of revenant tied to improper burial or excommunication, not the blood-drinking vampire of Western fiction.
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