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αἰπόλος

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word αἰπόλος

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
700s BC Homer, Iliad
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek αἴξ,πέλω
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek αἴξ
Ancient Greek αἰπόλος

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ai̯.pó.los/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ɛˈpo.los/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈpo.los/[1]

Forms

αἰπόλος (aipólos) m (genitive αἰπόλου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek αἴξ (aíx, “goat”) + -πόλος (-pólos, “tending”), from an older *αἰγπολος (*aigpolos).[2][3] The second part belongs to πέλω (pélō, “to move, be”), as in βουκόλος (boukólos, “cowherd”).[2][4] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *-kʷolos (“-herd”), from *kʷel- (“to turn, cultivate”).[1] Beekes notes that the type is old.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning a goatherd.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word keeps its sense throughout antiquity: Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Isaeus and Menander use it, sometimes with a genitive “of goats”.[3][6] Theocritus' first Idyll addresses a goatherd.[7][3] The Septuagint uses it in the book of Amos.[6] Hesychius records a Cypriot sense “retail trader”, which Beekes finds unclear.[6][2] From it come αἰπολέω (aipoléō, “to herd goats”) and αἰπόλιον (aipólion, “herd of goats”).[2]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a goatherd.[5][7]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it.[6][4]
  • 4th century BC – Plato uses it in the Laws.[6][4]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus addresses a goatherd in his first Idyll.[7][4]
  • 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius records a Cypriot sense, “retail trader”.[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A goatherd.[6][3][5]
  2. (Cypriot) A retail trader, according to Hesychius.[6]

Word family

  • αἰπολέω (aipoléō)
  • αἰπόλιον (aipólion)
  • αἰπολικός (aipolikós)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
Cite this entry

“Αἰπόλος.” Etymologically, 30 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%CE%B1%E1%BC%B0%CF%80%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%82. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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