ζῴδιον

Forms

ζῴδῐον (zōídion) n (genitive ζῳδῐ́ου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive from Ancient Greek ζῷον (zōîon, “living being, animal; figure”) with the suffix -ίδιον (-ídion).^[1][2][3][4] The form ζῴδιον is contracted from ζωΐδιον (zōḯdion), which Aratus and Manetho still use.^[5][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it for the small figures, painted or carved, that decorated a bronze mixing bowl.^[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical and Hellenistic Greek it meant a small figure or statuette, painted or carved, and sometimes a large one: Diodorus speaks of figures sixteen cubits high.^[2][5] The magical papyri use it for the figures to be drawn on papyrus with myrrh ink.^[8]

Because several constellations were pictured as small animals, Aristotle speaks of “the circle of the figures”, and the word came to name the signs of the zodiac themselves.^[7][2] Polybius, the astronomer Hipparchus and later writers use it in this sense.^[2] Coptic borrowed the word, recorded from the 4th century AD.^[9]

In medieval vernacular Greek it still meant a figure, painted or carved, and also a sign of the zodiac or a star.^[10] The Modern Greek ζώδιο (zódio) is a learned word for a sign of the zodiac, in astronomy and in astrology.^[3][7] The adjective ζῳδιακός (zōidiakós) gave the name of the zodiac.^[1][7]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for small figures decorating a bowl.^[2][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the signs of the zodiac.^[2][7]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses the uncontracted form ζωΐδιον.^[2][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius and Hipparchus use it in astronomy.^[2][11]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it of large figures.^[2][11]
• 4th century AD – It is first recorded as a borrowing in Coptic.^[9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for a painted or carved figure and for a sign of the zodiac.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small figure, painted or carved; a statuette; sometimes a large figure.^[2][5]
2. (astronomy, astrology) A sign of the zodiac.^[2][5]
3. (magical papyri) A figure to be drawn as part of a spell.^[8]

Word family

• ζῳδιακός (zōidiakós)

Related words

• English zodiac

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
4. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ a b Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge