ζεῦγος

Forms

ζεῦγος (zeûgos) n (genitive ζεύγεος or ζεύγους); third declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek ze-u-ke-si, dative plural, “pairs”, of footwear, at Pylos.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yéwgos (“team of yoked animals”),^[1] an s-stem of the root *yewg- (“to yoke, unite”), the root of ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi, “to yoke”) and ζυγόν (zugón, “yoke”).^[4][1][5] The plural form ⟨ζεύγεα⟩ is formally identical with Latin iūgera, a land measure, and Middle High German jiuch, also a land measure, properly the land a team can plough in a day.^[4] The same s-stem underlies iūmentum (“beast of burden”), Old Latin plural ⟨iouxmenta⟩.^[4] Beside it, ζεύγλη (zeúglē, “strap of a yoke”) has a different suffix.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Pylos tablet already has the dative plural Mycenaean Greek ze-u-ke-si, of pairs of shoes.^[2][3] In Homer the word means a team of yoked animals, mules or oxen.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

From the team it passed to the vehicle it drew: Herodotus, Thucydides and the orators use it of a cart, carriage or chariot.^[6][7] From Aeschylus and Herodotus on it means any pair or couple, of the two sons of Atreus, of birds, of shackles or shoes, and Euripides even uses it of three persons joined together.^[6][7] Xenophon uses it for the pairing of man and woman in marriage.^[7] In the papyri it is a pair of earrings or a suit of clothes, and in late Latin legal Greek it renders Latin iūgerum.^[6] In the New Testament it is a yoke of oxen or a pair.^[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept it.^[10] Modern Greek ζεύγος (zévgos) is a learned word for a pair or a couple, beside the everyday ζευγάρι (zevgári), from the ancient diminutive ζευγάριον (zeugárion).^[11][3]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – A Pylos tablet records Mycenaean Greek ze-u-ke-si, “pairs” of shoes.^[2][3]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a team of draught animals.^[6][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a carriage and of any pair, of hawks or vultures.^[6][7][12]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of three persons joined together.^[6][7][12]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke speaks of five yoke of oxen.^[9]
• Modern Greek – ζεύγος survives as a learned word beside ζευγάρι.^[11][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A yoke of beasts, a team of mules, oxen or horses.^[6][7]
2. A vehicle drawn by a team: a cart, carriage or chariot.^[6][7]
3. A pair or couple of persons, animals or things.^[6][7]
4. A group of more than two persons joined together.^[6][7]
5. The pairing of man and woman in marriage.^[7]
6. The mouthpiece of a double flute.^[6]

Word family

• ζευγάριον (zeugárion)

Related words

• ζυγόν (zugón)
• ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi)
• ζεύγλη (zeúglē)
• Latin iūgerum
• Latin iūmentum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
3. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge