10 Ancient Words Well Probably Never Translate

A hapax legomenon is a word or phase that is unique. It appears only one time in an entire body of text. Hapax legomena can occur either in a single text or in an authors entire works of literature, and they appear in ancient languagesGreek, Roman, Hebrew, Old Englishas well as in computer science programming languages. No one can be sure of the exact meaning of these 10 instances of hapex legomena, so we can only guess their definitions based on limited context clues.

10 Aeppelfealu
Old English



Because apples come in a spectrum of colors, from green to red to multi-hued, we cant be sure what specific color the author meant with this word. Additionally, scholars dont agree on the exact definition of fealo. It refers to different colors in different contextsa pale yellow or golden color that shades into red, brown, or even green. In context, aeppelfealu probably refers to a yellowish green that gradually fades into a specific shade of light brown or burgundy, but we cant be sure.

9 Emodulanda


The word emodulanda appears in Ovids Amores, published in 16 B.C. In the Amores, Ovid presents love poetry in elegiac couplets about his crush on a girl named Corinna. Occurring in the last line in Book 1.1, emodulanda is a gerundivethe future passive participle verb formthat does not appear anywhere else in all of Latin literature.


Some classicists think its synonymous with the verb modulor, meaning to sing in a rhythm, and Ovid simply needed the extra syllable to fit the meter. Other classicists, however, point out that Ovid and his peers purposefully used the e/ex prefix to indicate a completeness or fullness. So, the exact meaning of emodulanda remains elusive, but Ovid probably uses it to convey his feeling that his elegiac couplets are the best, most complete way to sing and celebrate his muse, Corinna.

8 Bacciballum


Bacciballum is a Latin noun of uncertain origin and meaning that appears in The Satyricon, a satirical Roman novel written by Gaius Petronius Arbiter during the reign of the emperor Nero. In a section about a banquet hosted by Trimalchio, a former slave and member of the nouveau riche, Petronius criticizes Trimalchios tacky, ostentatious display of wealth. In context, bacciballum is an adjective that refers to the beautiful Melissa from Tarentum, a Greek colony in southern Italy. Some scholars believe that bacciballum is a vulgar colloquialism that refers to an attractive woman, like a piece. Other scholars think the word is a diminutive of bacca, a Latin word meaning berry or pearl, and refers to Melissas juicy plumpness or round shape. We may never know exactly what Latin slang like bacciballum means, but its probably a crude word to compliment a womans appearance.

7 Pholkos


In Book II of Homers Iliad, Homer uses a word that can be transliterated as pholkos to describe Thersites, a Greek soldier who fought in the Trojan War. The problem is that pholkos doesnt appear anywhere else in all of the ancient Greek texts we have; it only appears in line 217 of Book II of the Iliad as well as a few old scholarly commentaries about this passage of the Iliad.

In context, we know that the word is an adjective that describes how ugly Thersites is. Hes a balding hunchback who wouldnt shut up at a banquet, and Achilles and Odysseus hated him. Some ancient scholars thought pholkos is derived etymologically from an ancient Greek word that means one who draws up the eyes, or someone with narrow, squinty eyes, while others believed that it referred to Thersites being circumcised. Modern translators dont think pholkos refers to Thersites eyes at all, but rather to how his bowleggedness and how he dragged his foot behind him and limped. With all these differing opinions, we may never know exactly what Homer meant with pholkos.

6 Orcneas
Old English



Although were not exactly sure what orcneas means, scholars believe that it is related to the word orc, the Latin word orcus, and the suffix -neas. The word orc appears twice in Beowulf and refers to a cup of precious metal or treasure, which doesnt seem related to orcneas. Another meaning of orc in Old English, though, is ogre, which makes more sense in the context of giants and elves.

In ancient Roman mythology, Orcus is god of the Underworld, and -neas means corpses, so orcneas could refer to evil, demonic spirits or hellish monsters. Inspired by reading the word orcneas in Beowulf, English fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien later coined the word orc to refer to an evil race of creatures.

5 Nep
Old English


Ever heard the word nep? It occurs exactly once in all of literature, in the Old English poem Exodus, a heroic epic that tells the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea. Old English scholars have admitted that theyre baffled by nep, and theyve offered many unsatisfactory explanations for the word.

Nep may be related to an Old English compound word nepjlod, meaning water at low tide, which would tie in thematically with the water and Red Sea imagery in Exodus. But in context, nep is in a passage about a dying Egyptian, not about water. Other linguists think that nep is the result of a transcription error and should have been neh (near), weg (path), or neck. Still other scholars think that nep means lacking or deprived of based on the context clues. To confuse matters even more, a similar wordneapcould be related but didnt appear in any English form until much later in the 1400s.

4 Terricrepo




3 Chashman


Rabbis and Hebrew scholars describe some hapax legomena in the Old Testament as elusive, mysterious, and haunting. Chashman is one of those Hebrew words, appearing in Psalms 68:31. The section in which chashman appears relates how Gods followers will come out of Egypt and raise their hands to worship the mighty God.

Chashman is a noun that refers to the stuff Gods followers will bring with them as they leave Egypt. Biblical scholars havent reached a consensus about the exact meaning of chashman, but suggestions include red cloth, bronze articles, a tribute, nobles, envoys, and ambassadors. Still other scholars think the word may be a typo for the word hashmannim, meaning leaders. Whatever chashman means, the important idea behind it is that whatever it is, God is being praised with it.

2 Baruopa



Zeus thunderbolt was a literal and symbolic representation of his power as king of the gods, and baruopa is an adjective that describes Zeus, the lord of thunder. In context, Pindar describes how Zeus ordered the repopulation of the Earth after a major flood. Translations of baruopa vary between deep-voiced, thundering, flashing, bright, and bickering. Scholars disagree about whether the word connotes a sense of abruptness and violence, or whether it indicates a more benevolent, encouraging approach since Zeus used thunder to communicate with mortals.

Baruopa probably derives from an ancient Greek adjective that meant quick or nimble (if it described animals) or spotted or glittering (if it described armor). Scholars disagree about the exact connotations of the complex word baruopa, which may also include a sense of visual bright lightning or of victory itself, which would be fitting for Olympic Game winners, but the generally accepted meaning of the word is the sound of loud thunderclaps.

1 Polemophthoroisin

the longest word ever

Polemophthoroisin is a word that appears only once in all of ancient Greek literaturein line 653 of The Persians by Aeschylus. A Greek tragedy, The Persians is a trilogy of plays about divine retribution and the wars between Greece and Persia. Polemophthoroisin is a compound adjective, most likely from Polemos, the divine personification of war in Greek mythology, and phtheiro, a verb meaning to ruin or destroy.

In context, polemophthoroisin modifies the word atais, which means disasters. Most classicists translate polemophthoroisin as wasting by war or war-destroying, but why Aeschylus used this hapax legomenon is a mystery. Perhaps Aeschylus created this new compound word to emphasize the disastrous nature of the Greco-Persian wars, or maybe he was trying to convey a more nuanced meaning that has been lost in translation.

Suzanne writes about indie music at After The Show.