γέρων

Forms

γέρων (gérōn) m (genitive γέροντος); third declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek ke-ro-te, read as gerontes “elders”, on tablets from Knossos and Pylos.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *géronts,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *ǵérh₂onts (“old”), a formation of the root *ǵerh₂- (“to become old, ripen”).^[1][4] In its formation it is identical with Sanskrit जरत् (járant-, “old, old man”) and the Ossetian word for “old (man)”.^[4][5] It was probably once a participle, like the Sanskrit word, which in the Rigveda can still be read as the participle of a present meaning “to grow old”, but everywhere it became separated early from the verb.^[5][3]

Further cognates are Old Armenian ծերուն (cerun) and Middle Irish gérat (“champion”).^[1] Within Greek it belongs with γέρας (géras, “gift of honour”), γῆρας (gêras, “old age”) and γραῦς (graûs, “old woman”).^[4]

Ancient writers derived it from γῆ (gê, “earth”), because old men are bent towards the ground or “earthy” and dry, or from γέρας, because the old are honoured.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets from Knossos and Pylos have the plural Mycenaean Greek ke-ro-te, “old men, elders”.^[2][3] In Homer it is an old man, and the plural names the elders or chiefs of the Achaeans who sit in council.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Homer and later poetry it is also used as an adjective, “old”, of men and horses and even of a shield or a garment, and in tragedy of an old saying.^[7][8][3] In the city-states the elders became an office: at Sparta the γέροντες were the members of the council of elders, the γερουσία (gerousía).^[7][8][5] Hellenistic and New Testament Greek used it for an elderly man.^[9]

Medieval Greek made from it Modern Greek γέροντας (gérontas) and, by a change of declension, γέρος (géros), the everyday word for an old man.^[10] Besides “old man”, γέροντας is used colloquially of a priest or monk, and historically of the notables of a community.^[10] English learned words such as English gerontology (1903) are formed from its stem.^[11]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – Tablets from Knossos and Pylos record Mycenaean Greek ke-ro-te, “elders”.^[2][3]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for an old man and for the elders of the army.^[7][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the Spartan council of elders.^[7][8][3]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the old fish of a species and of stags.^[7][3]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of John uses it of an elderly man.^[9]
• Middle Ages – Vernacular Greek has the forms γέροντας and γέρος, which survive in Modern Greek.^[10]
• 1903 – The English word gerontology is coined from its stem.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An old man.^[7][8][9]
2. (plural) The elders or chiefs of a community; in city-states such as Sparta and Elis, the members of the council of elders.^[7][8]
3. Part of a spinning-wheel.^[7]

Adjective

1. (poetic) old, of persons and animals, and of things such as a shield, a garment or a boat.^[7][8]
2. Of long standing, ancient, of a saying or story.^[8][7]

Word family

• γερουσία (gerousíā)
• δαμογέρων (damogérōn)
• δημογέρων (dēmogérōn)
• ὠμογέρων (ōmogérōn)
• ἠριγέρων (ērigérōn)

Related words

• γέρας (géras)
• γῆρας (gêras)
• γραῦς (graûs)
• English gerontology

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
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 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux