Hero
Middle English (with mythological reference): via Latin from Greek hērōs .
wiktionary
From Middle English heroes, from Old French heroes, from Latin hērōs(“hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως(hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-(“to watch over, protect”) [1] [2]. Related to Latin servo(“protect”). Displaced Middle English heleð, haleð, from Old English hæleþ.
etymonline
hero (n.1)
late 14c., "man of superhuman strength or physical courage," from Old French heroe (14c., Modern French héros), from Latin heros (plural heroes) "hero, demi-god, illustrious man," from Greek hērōs (plural hērōes) "demi-god," a variant singular of which was hērōe. This is of uncertain origin; perhaps originally "defender, protector" and from PIE root *ser- (1) "to protect," but Beekes writes that it is "Probably a Pre-Greek word."
Meaning "man who exhibits great bravery" in any course of action is from 1660s in English. Sense of "chief male character in a play, story, etc." first recorded 1690s. Hero-worship is from 1713 in reference to ancient cults and mysteries; of living men by 1830s. In Homer, of the Greeks before Troy, then a comprehensive term used of warriors generally, also of all free men in the Heroic Age. In classical mythology from at least the time of Hesiod (8c. B.C.E.) "man born from a god and a mortal," especially one who had done service to mankind; with the exception of Heracles limited to local deities and patrons of cities.
hero (n.2)
1955, the New York City term for a sandwich elsewhere called submarine, grinder, poor boy (New Orleans), or hoagie (Philadelphia); origin unknown, perhaps so called for its great size (from hero (n.1)), or a folk-etymology alteration of Greek gyro as a type of sandwich.
