γύψος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɡýp.sos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈʝyp.sos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈʝyp.sos/^[1]

Forms

γῠ́ψος (gúpsos) f (genitive γῠ́ψου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably a Semitic loanword.^[2][3][4] Rosół's source is borrowed from Akkadian gaṣṣu (“gypsum”), with Aramaic and Syriac gaṣṣā and Arabic ǧiṣṣ, noting that Semitic /ṣ/ rendered as ψ has no parallel in other loanwords.^[4][5] Beekes marks the Semitic origin with a question mark, and Wiktionary calls it of unknown origin, possibly a wandering word.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it of chalk or gypsum with which warriors painted their bodies.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Plato uses it as a type of whiteness.^[6][7] Theophrastus, in his work on stones, uses it for gypsum and for the cement made from it, and Diodorus and Arrian describe bricks set in gypsum mortar.^[7][8] It was also used as a cosmetic and for making statues.^[8]

Latin borrowed it as gypsum, and Arabic as جبس.^[1][8] Medieval Greek made it masculine, as in Modern Greek γύψος (gýpsos), which is also a plaster cast.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus: chalk as war paint.^[6][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it as an image of whiteness.^[6][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus describes gypsum and gypsum cement.^[7][8]
• 10th century – the masculine gender is recorded.^[9]
• Modern Greek – γύψος “gypsum, plaster”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. chalk, as body paint.^[7][6]
2. gypsum.^[7][8]
3. Gypsum plaster or cement.^[7][8]

Word family

• γυψόω (gupsóō)
• γύψινος (gúpsinos)
• γυψοειδής (gupsoeidḗs)

Related words

• Latin gypsum
• English gypsum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki