Ever wonder what some things mean in the Harry Potter books? Check out they mean exactly below!

A

Accio - Latin for to call or summon.
Avada Kedavra - Aramaic (Hebrew and Babylonian Hybrid): Destroy that thing! Avad: Destroy; Kedavar: That Thing.


 

B

Black, Sirius - Sirius is the name of one of the brightest stars in the sky and in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius is also called the "Dog Star".
Beauxbatons - Beauxbatons means 'beautiful stick' in French. Beaux; 'beautiful', and batons, 'stick' or wand.


 

C

Caput Draconis - Meaning "Dragon head" in Latin. Dragon derived from Draco and head deceived from "caput"
Conjunctivitus Curse - The word coniugo in latin means to bind together, and eyes have a connective tissue called the conjunctiva.


 

D

Delacour, Fleur -'Flower of the Court' in French. Fleur; 'flower', De; 'of', La, 'the', Cour; 'Court'
Densaugeo - In Latin, dens means teeth and augeo means to thicken. This spell makes teeth grow uncontrollably.
Diagon Alley - Diagonally
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titallandus - Latin for never (Nunquam) tickle (Titallandus) a sleeping (Dormiens) dragon (Draco).
Dumbledore, Albus - His name means "bumblebee". In latin, Albus means "white".
Durmstrang - Comes from the German phrase "Sturm and Drang", which means "storm and stress"


 

E

Ennervate - The spell Ennervate, which cures stunning, is similar to the French verb ennerver, which means to annoy. I don't know if this is just a coincidence.
Erised - Erised is Desire spelt backwards, so if you spell the inscription on the mirror backwards, it says, "I show not your face but your hearts desire".
Expecto Patronus - Expecto means "to throw ou". Patronus means "protector".


 

F

Fawkes - Guy Fawkes was a conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, the Nov 5, 1605, attempt to blow up parliament in London. The anniversary is still celebrated by burning Fawkes in effigy and with fireworks.
Filius, Flitwick - Feilius is Latin for "unnoticeable". Flitwick is the name of a medium-sized town in Bedfordshire, England, about 50 miles north of London.
Filch, Argus - "Filch" means to steal and in Greek mythology Argus was a monster with eyes all over. Maybe that's why he can spot mischief so easily.
Firenze - Italian word for the city of Florence
Flamel, Nicholas - Flamel was actually a real person who claimed to have discovered the Philosopher's Stone.
Fluffy - The three headed dog actually came from a Greek legend, Cerberus and Music. That's why Hagrid got it from a "Greek chappie".


 

G


 

H

Hagrid - Hagrid means "hung over". Rubeus Hagrid is the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, and Hagrid Rubeus was the Greek god of jewels and worked as a keeper on Mount Olympus.
Hedwig - A saint who lived in Germany, worked with the education of orphaned children.
Hermes - Messenger for the Greek gods.
Hermione - Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy and Menelaus. She was abandoned when she was 9 years old when Helen was taken by Paris. She married Orestes 2 later in her life, but he went crazy when he killed his mother. However, Rowling mentioned in an interview that she named Hermione from a character in the Shakespeare play, "A Winter's Tale".



 

I


 

J

Jigger, Arsenius - Author of Magical Drafts and Potions; Arsenic is a poison used in many magical and Muggle concotions. A jigger is a liquid measurement, a bit more than a fluid ounce. Jigger also means to shake or stir (as you would do to a potion)


 

K

Knockturn Alley - Knockturn Alley stands for-"nocturnally" meaning in the night or only in the Dark! The Knockturn Alley is surely a place you wouldn't want to visit nocturnally!


 

L

Lockhart, Gilderoy - "Gilda" means "to gloss over and make attractive". "Roy" is a variation of "Robert", which means "fame" and "bright". "Lockhart" - Name On a Memorial to the First World War tribute.

Lupin, Remus - Lupin is derived from Canis Lupus, the scientific for wolf, and did you know that in ancient times Remus and Romulus were abandoned and raised by wolves? Later Romulous killed Remus and founded Rome. Lupin also comes from the word "lupine" which means wolf-like.


 

M

Malfoy, Draco - His name means Dragon in scholar tongue, and Malfoy probably came from "mal" (bad) "foi" (faith).
Malfoy, Lucius - Lucius is derived from Lucifer, Satan's other name. Lucius was also the name of a Roman who was name dictator during a civil war. He declared himself dictator for life and was very cruel, favoring the patricians.
Malfoy, Narcissa - The name Narcissa comes from a Greek myth. It was originally the name of a man, who fell in love with his reflection. He died while admiring himself one day.
Mandrakes - I know where J.K Rowling came up with the idea for the mandrakes. The dictionary says the Mandrake is a poisonous plant of the nightshade family, genus Mandragora, found in the mediteranean regions:it has a short stem, purple or white flowers and a thick root, often forked, used in medicine for its narcotic and emetic properties.The root, formerly thought to resemble the HUMAN SHAPE.
Maxime, Madame Olympe - Maxime means "large" in french
McGonagall, Minerva - Her name means Goddess of Wisdom.
Moody, Alastor - The name of Mad Eye Moody, Alastor, meant in ancient Greece a demon who was hunting the criminal down to death or provoke him to commit more crimes.


 

N

Nimbus - In Greek mythology Nimbus was a great storm cloud that when it came to the ground turned into a god or goddess.
Nocturne Alley - Nocturnally
Nox (the spell used to put out a lighted wand) - The name of the night goddess in Roman mythology.


 

O


 

P

Patil, Parvati - Parvati is a Hindu goddess.
Peeves - The verb "to peeve" in the English language means to annoy, which is exactly what Peeves does.
Pensieve - Pen comes from the French word "penser", which means to think, and a sieve is used to strain liquids or sort out desired things.


 

Q

Quidditch - Quidditch is actually a composition of letters from the name of the balls used in this very game. Quaffle-Qu; Bludger-d ; Bludger-d; Snitch-itch, therefore giving us Qudditch, which is very similar to Quidditch.


 

R


 

S

School motto - Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus translated from latin it means "never tickle a sleeping dragon"
Skeeter, Rita - The word "skeeter" sounds like a mixture of "scamper", "scatter" and "creep". Skeeter is also another word for mosquito.
Snape, Severus -The meaning of severus in latin is "mean and strict", and Snape comes from a town in Suffolk which J.K. once visited.
Spore, Phyllida - Author of 1000 magical herbs. Her surname is derived from spores in plants which they use for transpiration and photosynthesis. And her first name is from the greek word 'phylum' meaning leaves.Both spores and leaves have to do with the subject she writes on - Herbology!


 

T

Trelawny, Sibyll - Sibyll means fortune teller


 

U


 

V

Valatsky, Cassandra - In book 3, in divination class, their textbook is called 'Unfogging the Future', by Cassandra Vablatsky. Vablatsky comes from Madame Blavatsky, who is a famous spiritist. Cassandra was also a Greek mythological figure who was cursed by the gods, who gave her the ability to see the future but made it so that no one would believe her prophecies. She eventually went mad.

Voldemort - Voldemort Means Flight/Theft of Death in French. It is divided into "vol" (flight/theft) "de" (of) "mort" (Death).


 

W

Weasely - This means suggestive of or resembling a weasel.
Weasley, Ron - Running Weasel was a warlord in the 6th Dynasty. He was a brilliant stratigist, and he never lost a game of chess. Unfortunately, he died when a rat that had been dyed yellow by his soldiers for fun earlier that day, knocked over a lamp in his palace, burning it to the ground, and killing Running Weasel.


 

X


 

Y


 

Z