βόμβος

Forms

βόμβος (bómbos) m (genitive βόμβου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably onomatopoeic.^[2][3][4] Beekes notes that πέμφιξ (pémphix) and πομφόλυξ (pomphóluks), variants of βέμβιξ (bémbix), show typical Pre-Greek features, such as the variation of /p/, /b/ and /ph/ and the suffixes in -ακ- and -ῑκ-,^[5] and Wiktionary therefore calls it an onomatopoeic word from the Pre-Greek substrate.^[2][5][1] Similar sound words are Lithuanian bim̃balas and Latvian bam̃bals “beetle” and Old Norse bumla (“drum”).^[2][1] Chantraine sees a group of expressive words for whirling and humming, motion and sound closely joined, and the DGE likewise calls it a reduplicated expressive form for turning, with a sound associated with it.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are in the 5th century BC: Hippocrates' Coan Prenotions uses it for a buzzing in the ears, and Plato's Protagoras for a booming sound.^[3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is a booming or humming sound,^[3] and Aristophanes uses it for the drone of the aulos, and also has a barbarous neuter βόμβο.^[3][10] Aristotle uses it in his work on respiration, Epicurus of thunder, Galen of rumbling in the intestines, and Heliodorus of the booming of a wind.^[3]

It was borrowed into Latin as bombus.^[11][2] From the Latin word come Italian bomba, French bombe and English bomb, probably named for the sound.^[12] Modern Greek has βόμβος (vómvos) as a learned word.^[4]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Hippocrates uses it for a buzzing in the ears.^[3][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a booming sound, and Aristophanes for the drone of the aulos.^[3][10][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in his work on respiration.^[3][7]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for rumbling in the intestines.^[3][7]
• 3rd century AD – Heliodorus uses it of the booming of a wind.^[3][7]
• 1580s – English bomb is recorded, ultimately from this word through Latin.^[12]
• Modern Greek – It is a learned word, Modern Greek βόμβος (vómvos).^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A booming or humming sound.^[3][10]
2. The drone of the aulos.^[10]
3. (medicine) A buzzing in the ears; a rumbling in the intestines.^[3]
4. The rumble of thunder.^[3]

Word family

• βομβέω (bombéō)
• βομβυλιός (bombuliós)
• βόμβυξ (bómbūx)

Related words

• Latin bombus
• English bomb

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
5. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com