hamartia
pronunciation
How to pronounce hamartia in British English:
UK [ˌhɑ:mɑ:'tɪə]
How to pronounce hamartia in American English:
US [ˌhɑmɑ'tɪr]
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- Noun:
- the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall
Word Origin
- hamartia (n.)
- "tragic flaw," Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt, sin" from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark," from PIE *hemert- "to miss, fail." "The aspiration must be analogical. The word has no known cognates, but the reconstructed root looks perfectly IE" [Robert Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"].