Etymologically
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βαθύς

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ba.tʰýs/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /βaˈθys/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /vaˈθys/[1]

Forms

βᾰθῠ́ς (bathús) m (feminine βᾰθεῖᾰ, neuter βᾰθῠ́); first/third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3] Beekes and Chantraine take βαθύς and βένθος (bénthos, “depth”) as an old pair, the adjective with the zero grade of the noun's stem, an alternation that points to an Indo-European word, though it has no further connections.[2][3] βάθος (báthos) is then a later formation after the adjective.[3][4] Beekes rejects the view that the noun was remade after πένθος (pénthos), which would allow a link with βῆσσα (bêssa, “glen”) (Frisk); he also rejects links with βάπτω (báptō) and βυθός (buthós).[2][5]

Others start from Proto-Indo-European *gʷembʰ- (“deep”), with βαθύς from an earlier *βαφύς (*baphús) and so akin to the verb “to dip”,[4][6] and compare Sanskrit गभीर (gabhīrá, “deep”);[1] Wiktionary also mentions Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₂dʰ- (“to sink”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is “deep” of the sea, a ditch or a river, and also “high” of a court with a high fence; it describes a deep, that is broad, shore, and the “deep” mind in which grief strikes.[7][8]

Semantic evolution

From Homer on it describes what extends far down or far up, according to where one stands, and so also what lies thick: deep sand, mist and woodland, thick soil, a dense squall.[8][9] It was used of wide gulfs and beaches, and in military language of a deep formation.[9] Figuratively it meant abundant, as of a rich lot in Pindar or of a rich man in Xenophon, and profound, of the mind and of thought.[8] Of time, “deep dawn” in Aristophanes and Plato is the dim first light, and in Lucian “deep night” is late at night.[8] Papyri use it of a deep colour.[8]

In the New Testament it is said of a deep well, of “the depths of Satan” and of deep sleep.[10] Medieval and Modern Greek keep βαθύς (vathýs) in its old senses.[11][12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of the deep sea, a deep ditch and a high-walled court.[7][8]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of an abundant lot and of a profound mind.[8][4]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato call the dim light before dawn “deep”.[8][4]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon calls a rich man “deep”.[8][4]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament has it of a deep well and of deep sleep.[10]
  • Modern Greek – βαθύς (vathýs) continues the ancient adjective.[12][11]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Deep, extending far down; or high, extending far up, as seen from one's position.[8][9]
  2. Wide, broad, of a beach or a gulf; of troops, drawn up deep.[8][9]
  3. Thick, dense: of sand, mist, woodland, soil.[8][9]
  4. Long and thick, of hair or a beard; ample, of folds.[9]
  5. Strong, violent, of a storm.[8]
  6. Abundant, rich.[8]
  7. Profound, of the mind or of thought.[8][10]
  8. Of time: “deep dawn”, the dim first light, and “deep night”, late at night.[8]
  9. Deep, of a colour.[8]

Word family

  • βαθύκολπος (bathúkolpos)
  • βαθυπόλεμος (bathupólemos)
  • βαθύρροος (bathúrrhoos)
  • βαθυδίνης (bathudī́nēs)
  • βάθος (báthos)
  • βένθος (bénthos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  5. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  10. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  11. ^ a b 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