βῖκος

Forms

βῖκος (bîkos) m (genitive βῑ́κου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably a loanword.^[2][3] Following Hemmerdinger, Beekes considers it borrowed from Egyptian bꜣkt (“oil flask, used as a measure”), and Wiktionary gives that origin as probable.^[2][1] E. Masson thought of a Semitic source, and the CGL calls it probably Semitic.^[2][3] Rosół, however, lists the comparison with Aramaic and Hebrew words for a jug and a flask among the Semitic etymologies he rejects.^[4]

Beekes rejects any link with Latin fiscus (“basket”) or with βαυκάλιον (baukálion, “jug”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Beekes cites it from Hipponax.^[2] Herodotus uses it for jars of wine.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Xenophon used it for jars of wine, and papyri of the 3rd century BC for jars.^[5][3] The Septuagint has it for a jar in Jeremiah.^[5][6] Athenaeus, quoting Pollux, says it was also a drinking bowl.^[5][4] In papyri of the Roman period it was a unit of measure.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Hipponax uses the word.^[2][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes jars of wine.^[5][3][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it in the Anabasis.^[5][3][7]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri from Egypt use it for a jar.^[5]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint's Jeremiah has it for a jar.^[5][8]
• 1st century AD – A papyrus uses it as a measure.^[5]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus, quoting Pollux, describes it as a drinking bowl.^[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A jar or cask, especially for wine.^[5][3]
2. A drinking bowl.^[5]
3. A measure of capacity.^[5][2]

Usage notes

One of two other words with the same spelling, found in an inscription from Rome and also written βεῖκος, is a borrowing of Latin vīcus (“street, quarter”), and so a doublet of οἶκος (oîkos).^[7][1] The other is a name of the vetch, used by Galen and Oribasius.^[7] Modern Greek βίκος (víkos) is not the ancient word for a jar: Triantafyllidis traces it to an unattested Hellenistic *βίκος.^[9]

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 i 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
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. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki