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μητραλῴας

mētralṓias

G3389 substantive adjective

SILEX Entry

Definition

A person who kills their own mother; specifically, one who commits matricide. The term directly denotes a perpetrator of the act of killing one’s biological mother, with no extended metaphorical or generalized senses found in surviving texts. Its use is strictly descriptive and typically condemnatory.

Semantic Range

one who kills his mother, matricide, murderer of mothers

Root / Etymology

From the noun μήτηρ (mother) and either the root of λω- (possibly related to ἀλοάω ‘to thresh’ or λαῶ ‘to destroy’), though the compound as a whole means 'mother killer.' The exact formation is rare and may be modeled on similar compounds (e.g., πατραλῴας, 'father-slayer'). The precise etymological path of the second component is uncertain, but it functions to denote the agent of killing or violence against the respective parent.

Historical & Contextual Notes

μητραλῴας is an extremely rare word in Greek literature, appearing primarily in legal and moral contexts as a term of severe moral censure. The pattern of forming compounds to denote parent-killers (e.g., πατραλῴας for 'father-slayer') can be traced in Greek from the classical period, with such terms generally reserved for legal language, rhetoric, or literature with strong negative connotations. In the Koine period, including the New Testament and contemporaneous literature, these compounds retained their highly specific reference, typically without extension to figurative usage. English 'matricide' covers the basic sense but lacks the vivid, individualized sense of 'one who murders his mother' that μητραλῴας conveys in Greek.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from μήτηρ and the base of ἅλων; a mother-thresher, i.e. matricide:--murderer of mothers.

Root Family

μητρ-, λῳ- (mētralṓias) — mother, to slay, to destroy

Root μητρ-, λῳ- mother, to slay, to destroy

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
G3389-01 μητρολῴαις metroloais ADJ.S DAT M PL murderers of mothers to mother-slayers to mother-murderers 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
G3389-01 1 Timothy 1:9 μητρολῴαις metroloais ADJ.S DAT M PL murderers of mothers to mother-slayers to mother-murderers
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