εἰδύλλιον

Forms

εἰδύλλῐον (eidúllion) n (genitive εἰδυλλίου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

A diminutive from Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos, “form, shape”), formed with the suffix -ύλλιον (-úllion).^[2][3][1] Literally it is a “little form” or “little picture”, and Köbler and Pape gloss it as a small image before its use for a poem.^[4][5][6] The ancient scholia on Theocritus already explain the name from that word, a short poem being so called after its form or its picture of a scene.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a late word of the grammarians: the oldest source the New Pauly knows is a letter of the Latin writer Pliny, where it seems to mean simply a short poem.^[7][5] In Greek it is found in the prolegomena to the scholia on Theocritus, for the short, finely worked poems, mostly on country and pastoral subjects, of Theocritus, Bion and Moschus.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The term stayed rare outside the scholia, where it named the separate poems of the bucolic collection.^[7] The church historian Sozomen in the 5th century AD also uses it of a short poem.^[3][7]

Through Latin idyllium and French it gave English idyll, a short picturesque pastoral poem, first recorded about 1600.^[6] Modern Greek ειδύλλιο (eidýllio) is a learned revival: it keeps the old sense of a short bucolic poem and, under the influence of French idylle, added that of a tender love affair.^[9][8] The derivative ειδυλλιακός (eidylliakós) is recorded in 1889.^[8]

Timeline

• Late antiquity – The prolegomena to the scholia on Theocritus call his poems by this name and derive it from εἶδος.^[2][3][7]
• 5th century AD – Sozomen uses it of a short poem.^[3]
• About 1600 – English borrows idyll through Latin or French.^[6]
• 1889 – Modern Greek forms the adjective ειδυλλιακός.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short, carefully wrought descriptive poem, mostly on pastoral subjects, like those of Theocritus; an idyll.^[2][3][10]
2. A short poem in general.^[7][3]

Related words

• Latin idyllium
• English idyll

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica