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kallikantzaros

kallikantzaros noun: a mythical, malevolent goblin-like spirit of Southeastern European and Anatolian folklore.

kallikantzaros: a mythical, malevolent goblin-like spirit of Southeastern European and Anatolian folklore
Image: ΟΕΔΒ 1961, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

kallikantzaros (plural kallikantzaroi)

  1. A mythical, malevolent goblin-like spirit of Southeastern European and Anatolian folklore.
    • "This view is taken by Allatius, who says that a Kallikantzaros has all the characteristics of nightmare, rampaging on men's shoulders, then leaving them half senseless on the ground.2011, Clement A. Miles, The Christmas Troll and Other Yuletide Stories
    • "The kallikantzaros was not intimidated by my feeble cries.1942, Teukros Anthias, Cyprus Village Tales

Proper noun capitalized: Kallikantzaros

Kallikantzaros (plural Kallikantzaroi)

  1. In Greek and Cypriot culture, a traditional Yuletide gift-bearing character, resembling a goblin.

Forms of kallikantzaros

Noun
pluralkallikantzaroi
Proper noun
pluralKallikantzaroi

Origin of kallikantzaros

There is some debate about the etymology of this term. Berhand Schmidt conjectures that it is derived from two Turkish words meaning "black" and "werewolf". Paulikianos suggest that it is a euphemistic term combining kalos “handsome”, cf. an Arm. word for demons, mezmé aléknerë “the ones better (or prettier) than us”.

Borrowed from Greek καλλικάντζαρος (kallikántzaros).

Questions about kallikantzaros

What does kallikantzaros mean?
Kallikantzaros means a mythical, malevolent goblin-like spirit of Southeastern European and Anatolian folklore.
What part of speech is kallikantzaros?
Kallikantzaros can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of kallikantzaros?
The plural of kallikantzaros is kallikantzaroi.

Words near kallikantzaros in the dictionary

  1. kallidinogenases
  2. kallidins
  3. Kallie
  4. Kalligas
  5. kallikantzaroi
  6. kallikantzaros
  7. kallikrein
  8. kallikreins
  9. kallilite
  10. Kallinus
  11. Kalliope

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kallikantzaros (page history and authors); Kallikantzaros (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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