βασανίτης

Forms

βᾰσᾰνίτης (basanítēs) m (genitive βᾰσᾰνίτου); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”) + -ίτης (-ítēs), usually with λίθος (líthos, “stone”) understood.^[1][2][3][4]

Beekes derives βάσανος (básanos) from Egyptian baḫan, a stone that the Egyptians used as a touchstone for gold, which reached Greece through Lydia, so that the touchstone was also called the “Lydian stone”; the Greek /s/ for the Egyptian sound written ḫ is unexplained.^[5] Köbler too calls it probably Egyptian.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is in Pliny's Natural History, where the stone is named in its Greek form; the Greek lexica gloss it as the touchstone on which gold was rubbed to test it.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Hesychius and the Lexica Segueriana describe it as a kind of Lydian stone, the touchstone on which gold was rubbed to test it.^[8][9] A feminine βασανῖτις (basanîtis) occurs in Isidore of Pelusium.^[7]

In Pliny the Latin form basaniten was miscopied as basalten, and this mistake is the origin of the word basalt.^[5][10] Through Latin basanites the word passed into modern scientific language, and through it the Modern Greek βασανίτης (vasanítis) names a volcanic rock.^[4][3][1]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Pliny names the touchstone in its Greek form.^[7]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as a kind of Lydian stone used to test gold.^[8][7]
• About 1600 – English has basalt, from the Latin misspelling of this word.^[10]
• Modern Greek – βασανίτης (vasanítis) is the name of a volcanic rock.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A touchstone, the stone on which gold was tested, the same as βάσανος (básanos).^[1][11][8]

Related words

• βάσανος (básanos)
• βασανίζω (basanízō)
• Latin basanites
• English basalt
• English basanite

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
4. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b c d Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
9. ^ a b Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica