Hector

How to spell hector

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hector

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hector mean?

1. verbTo bully, intimidate, or browbeat someone with loud, blustering pressure.

Hector in a sentence

• The manager would hector his staff into working unpaid overtime.

• Protesters tried to hector the council into reversing the decision.

Where does hector come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word comes directly from Hector, the great Trojan warrior of Homer's Iliad, whose Greek name Hektor is linked to the verb ekhein, meaning 'to hold' or 'to hold fast', fitting for a steadfast defender of his city. In Homer he is a noble figure, but by the 1600s English writers had begun applying his name to swaggering, blustering street rowdies in London who picked fights and intimidated passers-by. From that ironic, deflated reputation the lowercase common noun arose, naming a bully or braggart, and a verb soon followed meaning to bully or browbeat someone. The shift from heroic Trojan to common harasser is a striking reversal, and it explains why a proper name ended up as an ordinary English verb. The spelling stays close to the Greek original, which is why it keeps the slightly unusual -ctor ending rather than a more phonetic form.

How the word is built

• hector (from the personal name Hektor, the Trojan hero), used as a verb meaning to bully