Μηδικός

Forms

Μηδῐκός (Mēdikós) m (feminine Μηδῐκή, neuter Μηδῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek Μῆδος (Mêdos, “a Mede”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3] Bailly derives it from the country name Μηδία (Mēdía).^[4] The people's name is Old Iranian, Old Persian 𐎶𐎠𐎭 (Māda-), of uncertain meaning, possibly from Proto-Iranian *mádyah (“in the middle”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the 5th century BC: Aeschylus' Persians speaks of the Median army, and Herodotus and Thucydides use it of the Medes and of the Persian wars.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Greek historians called the great war with Persia τὰ Μηδικά, “the Median affairs”, and ὁ Μηδικὸς πόλεμος, and Median and Persian were not kept apart.^[7][6] The feminine ἡ Μηδική, with γῆ understood, was the land of Media.^[4][6] Aristophanes calls lucerne “Median grass” (Μηδικὴ πόα), and Theophrastus and later writers name that plant with the feminine alone.^[7][6][8] The Μηδικὸν μῆλον, the “Median apple”, was the citron.^[4] Later writers used “Median dress” for silk garments, and the Suda glosses “the Median bird” as the peacock.^[7][9]

It was borrowed as Latin mēdicus.^[1] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the adjective,^[10] and Modern Greek μηδικός (midikós) is a learned word of history, as in οι Μηδικοί πόλεμοι, the Persian Wars; the feminine also names the lucerne genus in botany.^[3][11]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Aeschylus speaks of the Median army, and Herodotus and Thucydides call the Persian wars τὰ Μηδικά.^[4][7][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes names lucerne “Median grass”.^[7][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses the feminine alone for lucerne and speaks of the citron as the Median apple.^[7][4]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides calls a form of silphium juice “Median”.^[7]
• 6th century AD – Procopius calls silk garments “Median dress”.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned μηδικός survives in the name of the Persian Wars.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Median, of or relating to the Medes or Media; often Persian.^[7][6]
2. (of war) Against the Persians; τὰ Μηδικά, the Persian Wars.^[7][6]
3. (feminine as noun) The land of Media.^[6][4]
4. (feminine as noun, also Μηδικὴ πόα) Median grass, lucerne (Medicago sativa).^[7][6][8]
5. Μηδικὸν μῆλον, the citron; Μηδικὴ μηλέα, the citron tree.^[4]

Related words

• Μῆδος (Mêdos)
• Μηδία (Mēdía)
• Latin mēdicus

Usage notes

Herodian records that some wrote the plant name as μηδίκη.^[7] The plant ἑλένιον (helénion) was also called μηδική.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Adler, Ada, ed. (1928–1938), Suidae Lexicon, 5 vols, Leipzig: Teubner
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος