ζέφυρος

Etymology

It is probably a derivative from Ancient Greek ζόφος (zóphos, “darkness, the west”), the wind being named after the region where the sun sets.^[1][2][3] Chantraine calls the connection certain, and the CGL and LSJ give it as probable.^[1][4][5] The element ⟨-υ-⟩ suggests a neuter *ζέφος (*zéphos) as its base.^[1][3]

The further origin of the family is unclear: a root Proto-Indo-European *h₃yebʰ-, as in Sanskrit यभति (yábhati), has been suggested, but Beekes considers the development of initial /*Hy/ to ⟨ζ⟩ unlikely, and raises the possibility that the word is Pre-Greek.^[2] Rosół rejects Lewy's derivation from a Semitic word for storm.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, meaning the west wind, often personified.^[2][7][8] In Homer it blows from Thrace together with Boreas and is usually rough and violent, bringing rain and snow; only in the fabled lands is it soft and mild.^[1][9][5]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle uses it for the due west wind, opposed to the ἀπηλιώτης, though elsewhere he places it nearer the north-west, and calls it both cold and the most pleasant of winds.^[5] Derivatives such as ζεφύριος “western” named capes, and the Epizephyrian Locrians were “the Locrians of the west”.^[1]

Latin zephyrus was borrowed from it, and through Latin it gave English zephyr.^[10][11] Medieval vernacular Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek ζέφυρος (zéfyros) is a learned word for the west wind.^[12][13]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the west wind, sometimes personified.^[7][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Bacchylides use it.^[8][14]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the due west wind.^[5][14]
• 16th century – English takes Zephirus from Latin, for the personified west wind.^[11]
• Modern Greek – ζέφυρος is a learned word for the west wind.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The west wind, any westerly wind; later the due west wind.^[5][4]
2. (capitalised) Zephyr, the west wind personified.^[4][1]

Related words

• Latin zephyrus
• English zephyr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
10. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge