Etymologically
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Βορέας

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /bo.ré.aːs/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /βoˈre.as/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /voˈre.as/[1]

Forms

Βορέᾱς (Boréās) m (genitive Βορέᾱ); first declension[1] Ionic Βορέης (Homer), contracted Βορῆς (Herodotus), Attic Βορρᾶς, genitive Βορρᾶ, and Aeolic Βορίαις (Alcaeus).[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[3][5] It has been explained as the “wind from the mountains”, related to a word for “mountain” found with varying stems and vowel grades: Proto-Indo-Iranian *gr̥Híš (“mountain”), Lithuanian gìrė (“forest”) and Proto-Slavic *gora (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“mountain, forest”).[3][6][1][7] Illyrian place names with a word for “mountain” have been added.[3][6] On this view the Ὑπερβόρεοι (Huperbóreoi) were properly “those living beyond the mountains”.[3][6] But the formation is unclear, Chantraine calls the comparison a mere hypothesis, and Beekes asks whether the word is an Indo-European formation at all.[3][5]

The Attic form Βορρᾶς (Borrhâs) shows an exceptional change of /re/ to /rr/, as in στερρός (sterrhós) beside στερεός (stereós).[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it from the Iliad on for the north wind, often as a person, blowing especially from Thrace, and Hesiod has it in the Theogony and the Works and Days.[4][2][9] The Odyssey also uses it for the direction north.[4]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it is both the north wind, opposed to νότος (nótos, “south wind”), and the north as a direction, as in Herodotus' “towards the north wind” and Thucydides' phrases for “north of”.[2][4] Aristotle discusses it in his account of the winds.[2] In Athens his worshippers were called Βορεασταί (Boreastaí) and his festival Βορεασμοί (Boreasmoí).[5][6] The adjective βόρειος (bóreios, “northern”) is derived from it.[3]

Medieval Greek contracted it to βοριάς, which became Modern Greek βοριάς (voriás), the north wind and, colloquially, the north.[10][11] The learned Modern Greek βορράς (vorrás), from Attic Βορρᾶς, is the cardinal point north.[10][8] In Modern Greek mythology entries the god is the son of Astraeus and Eos and the personification of the north wind.[12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the north wind, often personified.[4][2][9]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the name in the Theogony and the Works and Days.[9]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses the Aeolic form Βορίαις.[2][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the direction north, and Thucydides the Attic form Βορρᾶς.[2]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle sets it against the south wind in his account of the winds.[2]
  • 3rd century BC – A papyrus mentions the north winds that bring the migrating birds.[2]
  • Medieval Greek – The vernacular has the contracted form βοριάς (voriás).[10][11]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. Boreas, the north wind, often personified as a god.[2][4]
  2. The north, as a direction.[2][4]

Word family

  • βόρειος (bóreios)
  • Ὑπερβόρεοι (Huperbóreoi)
  • Modern Greek βοριάς (voriás)
  • Modern Greek βορράς (vorrás)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  6. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  7. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  9. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  10. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  12. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία