βάραθρον

Forms

βᾰ́ρᾰθρον (bárathron) n (genitive βᾰρᾰ́θρου); second declension^[1] Epic and Ionic βέρεθρον, shortened βέθρον, Arcadian ζέρεθρον.^[2][3]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of its variants: epic and Ionic βέρεθρον (bérethron), the shortened βέθρον (béthron) and Arcadian ζέρεθρον (zérethron), whose alternations of ⟨α⟩ with ⟨ε⟩ and of ⟨β⟩ with ⟨ζ⟩ are typical of Pre-Greek words.^[4][3][2] He compares φάραγξ (pháranx, “ravine”), and rejects the usual connection with βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to devour”), whose root would not give these vowels.^[4]

Chantraine, the DGE and LSJ keep that connection, deriving the word from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour”), the root of βορά (borā́, “food”), with different ablaut grades in the two forms, and they compare Latin gurges (“whirlpool”) beside vorō (“to swallow”).^[5][6][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has the form βέρεθρον (bérethron) for a deep chasm beneath the earth or in a cliff.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

At Athens it was the pit into which condemned criminals were thrown (Herodotus, Plato, Xenophon), and comedy used it in curses for “hell, damnation” (Aristophanes, Menander).^[2][8] Aristotle uses it of a pit in general, Polybius and Plutarch of a deep bog, and Plutarch of the underground prison at Rome, the Tullianum.^[2][8] Demosthenes uses it figuratively for a wretched region and for a dangerous topic, and Lucian for ruin.^[8][2] It was borrowed into Latin as barathrum.^[10]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek has the learned βάραθρο (várathro), a chasm or precipice and, figuratively, utter ruin.^[11][12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the form βέρεθρον (bérethron) for a chasm.^[9][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus mentions the Athenian death-pit.^[2][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it in curses.^[8][6]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it figuratively.^[8][2][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a bog.^[8][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for the Tullianum at Rome.^[8][6]
• Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek βάραθρο (várathro) means a chasm and, figuratively, ruin.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A deep chasm or pit; in the plural, the depths of Hades or the sea.^[8][2]
2. At Athens, the pit into which condemned criminals were thrown; in curses, perdition.^[2][8]
3. An underground prison, of the Tullianum at Rome.^[8]
4. A deep bog or mire.^[8]
5. (figurative) A wretched place; a pitfall; ruin.^[8][2]
6. A woman's ornament.^[2]

Related words

• φάραγξ (pháranx)
• Latin barathrum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ 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 e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki