Mausolos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Carian ruler of the fourth century BC for whom the grand tomb at Halicarnassus, the mausoleum, was built
2. A king of Caria in western Anatolia whose elaborate burial monument gave its name to all later mausoleums
3. The Hellenistic satrap of Caria, remembered chiefly because his lavish tomb at Halicarnassus lent its name to the word mausoleum

Etymology: Mausolos was a satrap, or governor, of Caria in southwestern Anatolia under the Persian Empire, and he ruled from about 377 to 353 BC. He is remembered mainly because his widow, Artemisia II, had his tomb built at Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) so grand that it was counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its fame gave English the word "mausoleum," and the name of the man who was buried in it has been borrowed into that word, which is how his name survives today. The name itself is Carian, the non-Greek language of his people, and its meaning is not securely known. Greek writers recorded it as Mausolos, and it was used in Greek and Latin texts for the ruler and his dynasty. Because the Carian language is poorly attested, scholars cannot confidently explain the name's etymology, so any proposed meaning remains speculative.