βροτός

Forms

βροτός (brotós) m or f (genitive βροτοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *mrətós,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tós (“dead, mortal”), from the root *mer- (“to die”).^[2][1][3] The form with /ro/ for the syllabic /r̥/ is Aeolic, and the /b/ is a sound inserted between /m/ and /r/; archaic inscriptions from Naxos, Thessaly and the Greek colonies of Italy still write μροτός (mrotós) without it, and van Beek suggests that the change may not yet have taken place when the Homeric epics were composed.^[2][4] The same /m/ shows in ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos) “immortal”, which matches Sanskrit अमृत (amṛ́ta-) and Avestan aməṣ̌a-.^[2][4]

The closest cognate is Old Armenian մարդ (mard, “man”), which also means “human being” rather than “dead”; van Beek suggests that the sense “mortal” arose in Greek and Armenian under the influence of the word for “immortal”.^[2][4] Further cognates are Sanskrit मृत (mṛtá-, “dead”), Avestan mərəta- (“dead”), Latin mortuus (“dead”) and Old Church Slavonic мрътвъ (mrŭtvŭ, “dead”).^[2][1][5] Hesychius' μορτός (mortós) “man, mortal”, which matches Sanskrit मर्त (márta-), has a different ablaut grade.^[2]

Late antique and Byzantine writers derived it from that word or from μοῖρα (moîra) “lot, fate”, or from βρωτός (brōtós) “edible”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning a mortal man as opposed to the gods;^[7][8] Homer uses it mostly as a noun, but also with ἀνήρ (anḗr), and of a mortal woman in the Odyssey.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of poetry: van Beek notes that it belongs to the poetic register from Homer onwards, and LSJ calls it rare in prose, with a few uses in Plato and Aristotle.^[4][7] In tragedy and comedy the plural “mortals” never takes the article unless an adjective is added.^[7] The tragedians set mortals against the dead as well as against the gods, and in one passage of Aeschylus it is used of the dead themselves.^[7][8] Pindar has it as an adjective, “of the mortal race”.^[8][5]

The derivatives βρότεος (bróteos), βρότειος (bróteios) and βροτήσιος (brotḗsios) mean “mortal, human”, and it forms compounds such as the Homeric βροτολοιγός (brotoloigós) “bane of mortals” and φαεσίμβροτος (phaesímbrotos) “shining on mortals”.^[2] From ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos) came ἀμβροσία (ambrosíā), the food of the gods.^[2] In the Septuagint it is frequent in Job, and the early Christian letter 1 Clement quotes it from there.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for mortal men as opposed to the gods.^[7][9]
• 7th century BC – An inscription from Naxos writes the older form μροτοῖσιν (mrotoîsin).^[4]
• 5th century BC – A passage of Aeschylus uses it of the dead.^[7][8] Pindar uses it as an adjective.^[7][8][5]
• 4th century BC – Plato and Aristotle use it in prose, rarely.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mortal, a mortal man, as opposed to an immortal θεός (theós); in the plural, mortals, humankind.^[7][8]
2. A mortal woman.^[8][7]
3. A human being, a person, with less stress on mortality.^[8]
4. (rare) One of the dead.^[7]

Adjective

1. Mortal, human, of the mortal race.^[8][5]

Word family

• βρότεος (bróteos)
• βροτήσιος (brotḗsios)
• βροτολοιγός (brotoloigós)
• φαεσίμβροτος (phaesímbrotos)
• ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos)

Related words

• μορτός (mortós)
• ἀμβροσία (ambrosíā)
• Latin mortuus
• Latin morior

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 h 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 van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
10. ^ 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