βραχύς

Forms

βρᾰχῠ́ς (brakhús) m (feminine βρᾰχεῖᾰ, neuter βρᾰχῠ́); first/third declension^[1]

• Aeolic βροχύς (brokhús).^[2]
• Comparative βραχύτερος (brakhúteros), also βραχίων (brakhī́ōn) (Euripides) and the Homeric βράσσων (brássōn); superlative βραχύτατος (brakhútatos), also βράχιστος (brákhistos).^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *brəkʰús, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”).^[1][4] Beekes and Chantraine start from the zero grade Proto-Indo-European *mr̥ǵʰú-.^[2][5][6] Cognate with Sanskrit मुहु (múhu, “suddenly”), Avestan mərəzu- (“short”), Old High German murg (“short”) and Old English myrge (“pleasant”) (whence merry).^[2][1] Latin brevis is also compared, from a form with another vowel grade, though Chantraine thought it did not fit the series easily.^[2][5][7]

Ancient grammarians derived it from βάλλω (bállō) “to throw”, with /l/ changed to /r/, as something of which a part has been thrown away (Heraclides, quoted by Orion).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the comparative βράσσων (brássōn), once in the Iliad.^[2] The adjective itself is first found in Semonides, of short persons or things.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

Pindar uses it of short paths and of speaking briefly, and Herodotus speaks of the shortness of human life.^[10][3] It is used of every kind of smallness: of space and time (a short road, a short time), of size (short, small in stature), of land (narrow), of height (a low wall, a shallow river), of number (few: ἐν (en) βραχεῖ (brakheî) “in few words”) and of importance (humble, insignificant persons).^[10][3] DatSemShift records it as an example of the polysemy “short” and “low”.^[11] In grammar and metrics, from Aristotle on, it means short, of vowels and syllables.^[10]

In the New Testament it is used of a short distance and of a short time, “for a little while”.^[12] Modern Greek βραχύς (vrachýs) is a learned word taken from the ancient adjective.^[13][1] The combining form English brachy- “short” comes from it through Latin.^[14]

Timeline

• Homer – The comparative βράσσων (brássōn) occurs once in the Iliad.^[2]
• 7th–6th century BC – Semonides uses the adjective.^[3][9][6]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of short paths and of speaking “in few words”.^[10][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus calls human life short.^[10][6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of a narrow strip of land.^[3][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of short vowels and syllables.^[10][6]
• New Testament – It is used of a short distance and a short time.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Short, of distance, a road or a journey; of time, brief.^[10][3]
2. Of land, narrow; of walls or hills, low; of a river, shallow.^[3][10]
3. Of persons, animals or things, short in height or length, small.^[3][10]
4. Few; ἐν (en) βραχεῖ (brakheî) and διά (diá) βραχέων (brakhéōn), in few words.^[10][3]
5. Of persons, humble, insignificant.^[10]
6. (grammar) Short, of vowels and syllables.^[10]

Word family

• βράχεα (brákhea)
• βραχύτης (brakhútēs)
• ἀμφίβραχυς (amphíbrakhus)
• βραχίων (brakhī́ōn)
• βραχυδάκτυλος (brakhudáktulos)
• βραχύνω (brakhúnō)
• τρίβραχυς (tríbrakhus)

Related words

• Latin brevis
• English brachy-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
5. ^ a b 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. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Zalizniak, Anna A., et al. (2024), Database of Semantic Shifts (DatSemShift), Moscow: Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, https://datsemshift.ru
12. ^ a b 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
13. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com