δελφύς

Forms

δελφῡ́ς (delphū́s) f (genitive δελφῠ́ος); third declension^[1] Doric δελφύα, according to Gregory of Corinth, perhaps after μήτρα (mḗtra).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷelbʰ- (“womb”), perhaps as a u-stem *gʷelbʰ-u-.^[1][2] The labiovelar became /d/ before /e/, and van Beek notes that this palatalization took place before the dissimilation of labiovelars next to a labial.^[2][5]

The closest cognates are Indo-Iranian: Sanskrit गर्भ (gárbha, “womb, embryo”) and its Avestan counterpart for “womb”, which match the o-grade gloss δολφός (dolphós, “womb”) in Hesychius, while the zero-grade neuter gərəbuš- (“young animal”) suggests that δελφύς may also have been an s-stem.^[2][3] The Germanic words for the lamb and calf, such as Old High German kilbur (“ewe lamb”) and Old High German kalb (“calf”), begin with /k/, which does not fit a labiovelar, so Beekes keeps them apart unless a dissimilation is assumed; the DGE includes them.^[2][6] Chantraine explains the gloss, with its initial dental, as a phonetic change of *δελφός (delphós).^[3]

The word explains ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”), “born of the same womb”, and the same root is seen in δελφίς (delphís, “dolphin”) and δέλφαξ (délphax, “young pig”).^[3][6][5] The ancient lexica already drew that conclusion: Photius and the Lexica Segueriana gloss it as “womb”, the source of the word for brother, and the Etymologicum Magnum adds that the womb makes those born from it brothers.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Hippocratic treatise on sterility, which speaks of an abscess in the womb.^[6][4][11]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare and isolated medical and learned word, replaced by μήτρα (mḗtra).^[3] Aristotle uses it in his History of Animals, Lycophron in his Alexandra, and later Rufus, Pollux and Athenaeus.^[4][6][11] The Byzantine lexica gloss it as womb or belly.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic On Sterile Women uses it of the womb.^[6][4][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in the History of Animals.^[4][6][11]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Lycophron uses it in the Alexandra.^[6][11]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus uses it.^[4][6]
• 10th–11th century AD – Gregory of Corinth records a Doric δελφύα (delphúa).^[4][6]
• 12th century AD – The Etymologicum Magnum glosses it as womb or belly and links it with ἀδελφός (adelphós).^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The womb.^[4][6][1]

Related words

• ἀδελφός (adelphós)
• δελφίς (delphís)
• δέλφαξ (délphax)
• δολφός (dolphós)
• μήτρα (mḗtra)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
8. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck
9. ^ a b c Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
11. ^ a b c d e Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux