βραδύς

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /bra.dýs/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /βraˈðys/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /vraˈðys/^[1]

Forms

βρᾰδῠ́ς (bradús) m (feminine βρᾰδεῖᾰ, neuter βραδῠ́); first/third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷr̥dús (“slow”),^[2][1][3] matching in form Lithuanian gurdùs (“slow”) and Latvian gur̃ds (“tired”).^[2][4] Latin gurdus (“dolt, heavy”) may belong here too.^[2][5] The DGE notes another proposal, which connects it with ἀμέρδω (amérdō) from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥du-, and calls the etymology unconfirmed.^[4] The Homeric superlative βάρδιστος (bárdistos) is a form with metathesis.^[6][7]

Orion, in the 5th century AD, derived it from βαρύς (barús, “heavy”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.^[2][9] The Odyssey has the saying “the slow overtakes the swift”, and in the Iliad horses are called the slowest at running.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it was used of slow walkers, the lame and the old, of slow rivers, armies and ships, and of a slow tempo in music.^[7] Of the mind it meant dull or sluggish, as in Aristophanes and Plato, and of time it meant tardy, late, as in Sophocles and Thucydides.^[6] In Roman Egypt papyri use it of illiterate people who “write slowly”.^[6] The New Testament Letter of James counsels being slow to speak and slow to anger.^[10]

The Latin word bardus (“dull, stupid”) has been explained as a borrowing of it.^[11] Modern Greek βραδύς (vradýs) is a learned word for “slow”.^[12][5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of slow horses and men.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it.^[9][4]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of lateness.^[6][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato use it of a dull mind.^[6][4]
• 1st century AD – The Letter of James uses it of being slow to speak and to anger.^[10]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for “slow”.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Slow in moving, walking or running.^[6][7]
2. Of the mind, dull, sluggish.^[6][7]
3. Of time, tardy, late.^[6]
4. Slow to do something, with an infinitive or a preposition.^[6][10]
5. (Roman Egypt) Of illiterates, writing slowly.^[6]

Word family

• βραδυτής (bradutḗs)
• βραδύνω (bradúnō)

Related words

• Latin bardus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
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. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
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. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki