διφθέρα

Forms

διφθέρᾱ (diphthérā) f (genitive διφθέρᾱς); first declension^[1] Mycenaean di-pte-ra, “leather”, and the compound di-pte-ra-po-ro.^[2][3]

Etymology

Since de Saussure it has been connected with δέψω (dépsō) “to soften, tan”, the future of δέφω (déphō), with /e/ closed to /i/.^[3][4][5] Chantraine and the DGE suggest a neuter in -ταρ (-tar), like νέκταρ (néktar), turned into a feminine as ἡμέρα (hēmérā) stands beside ἦμαρ (êmar), but Chantraine finds the formation odd.^[3][4]

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek: the Hesychius gloss διψάρα (dipsára) “writing tablet, leather” shows the variation of /pʰtʰ/ with /ps/ and of /e/ with /a/, features of Pre-Greek words, and the word has the Pre-Greek suffix -ερ-.^[6][7] PHILOGLOSSA rates the Pre-Greek account as very reliable.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is already Mycenaean, as Mycenaean Greek di-pte-ra “leather, hide” on Pylos tablets.^[2][3][4] In literature it first appears in Herodotus (5th century BC), of prepared hides.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Thucydides distinguishes it, as a dressed skin, from the raw hide δέρρις (dérris).^[9][3] Herodotus records that the Ionians had long called papyrus rolls by this name, and Ctesias tells of the Persian royal records written on skins.^[9][4] A Cypriot gloss in Hesychius calls a schoolmaster a διφθεραλοιφός (diphtheraloiphós), a compound with ἀλείφω (aleíphō) “to anoint”.^[3][6]

From the hide came things made of leather: a farmer's leather jerkin in Aristophanes, Plato and Menander, a leather bag, and the skins used as tents by Xenophon's soldiers.^[9][10][4] Ammonius distinguishes it as goatskin from μηλωτή (mēlōtḗ), sheepskin.^[11]

The word passed into Aramaic and Old Persian, and through them into Persian as دفتر (daftar, “register, notebook”);^[1] Beekes thinks that Latin littera (“letter”) also derives from it, perhaps through Etruscan.^[1][6] French diphtérie is a learned formation from it.^[1] Modern Greek διφθέρα (difthéra) is a learned word for the ancient writing skin.^[12]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Pylos tablets have Mycenaean Greek di-pte-ra, “leather”.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of prepared hides and as an old Ionian word for writing material;^[9] Aristophanes of a leather jerkin.^[9][10][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it of skins used as tents and of soldiers' leather bags.^[9][10][4]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it of leather bindings for books;^[9] Diogenianus records a proverb about it.^[9][4]
• Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek διφθέρα (difthéra) names the ancient writing skin.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A prepared hide, tanned skin, leather.^[9][10]
2. A skin used as writing material; a parchment record.^[9][4]
3. A leather jerkin, worn by farmers.^[10][9]
4. A leather bag or wallet.^[10][9]
5. (in the plural) Skins used as tents or screens.^[9][10]

Word family

• διφθέρινος (diphthérinos)
• διφθεραλοιφός (diphtheraloiphós)

Related words

• δέφω (déphō)
• French diphtérie

Usage notes

Diogenianus records the proverb ἀρχαιότερα τῆς διφθέρας λέγεις, “you are telling things older than the hide”.^[9]

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 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 i Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki