Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • Greek orator whose reputation is based mainly on his Philippics, a series of orations exhorting the citizens of Athens to rise up against Philip II of Macedon.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • proper noun a famous Grecian orator, born circa 385 BC, died circa 322 BC.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun An an ancient Greek name, famously borne by the Athenian statesman and orator of 4th century BC.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Athenian statesman and orator (circa 385-322 BC)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Δημοσθένης (Dēmosthenēs).

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Examples

  • “Demosthenes, the son of Demosthenes, of the Pæanian township, made this motion, ”—the usual form of the commencement of the Votes of the Athenian Assembly.

    Demosthenes Plutarch 1909

  • To this discovery Dr. Francis made answer: -- "Then, sir, you have exceeded Demosthenes himself, for to say that you have exceeded Francis's _Demosthenes_, would be saying nothing."

    Life of Johnson, Volume 1 1709-1765 James Boswell 1767

  • She would teach, she would study, and after four or five months she would write an extended historical essay, publish it pseudonymously under the name Demosthenes, and then enjoy herself until Ender accepted a call to go Speak somewhere else.

    Speaker for the Dead Card, Orson Scott 1986

  • 78 “Great you call Demosthenes”: Quoted in ibid., p.

    Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995

  • 78 “Great you call Demosthenes”: Quoted in ibid., p.

    Knotted Tongues Benson Bobrick 1995

  • Ulric von Hütten, soldier and knight, equally distinguished in letters and in arms, and called the Demosthenes of Germany, was a zealous friend of reform.

    Luther and the Reformation: The Life-Springs of Our Liberties Joseph A. Seiss

  • Athens recalled Demosthenes and he made a successful tour of the cities to rally them against Antipater.

    Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 3 of 8 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History 1906

  • Action is everything according to the notion of Demosthenes -- 'action, action, action,' was his motto.

    Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina 1898

  • In response to Peter / Pietrov the Bulgarian; your reading and interpretation of Demosthenes 'the' Phillipics 'again is incorrect; remember the Demosthenes was a politician who used flowery and charged rhetoric which in most cases the connotations was never literal; and where the real enemies were not Macedonians Versus Greeks in the Battle of Chaeronea, but northern Greeks versus Southern Greeks.

    SofiaEcho RSS feed 2009

  • It's my impression that Valentine Ender ( "Demosthenes") was presenting some mixture of opinion and commentary.

    Comments and Replies 2006

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