θηρίον

Forms

θηρῐ́ον (thēríon) n (genitive θηρῐ́ου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θήρ (thḗr, “wild beast”) + -ιον (-ion, “diminutive suffix”), a diminutive in form but not in meaning.^[1][2][3]

Beekes derives θήρ (thḗr) from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- (“wild animal”), the source also of Latin ferus (“wild”) and Lithuanian žvėrìs (“wild animal”); the Greek plural forms match East Lithuanian ones exactly.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Odyssey, of a huge stag; the Iliad does not use it.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In prose it replaced θήρ (thḗr) as the ordinary word for a wild animal, while tragedy used it only in satyr plays.^[2][5] It soon covered animals in general: Herodotus reports the Egyptian belief that fire is a living animal, and Antiphon calls man the most godlike of all animals.^[2] It named strange and monstrous creatures too, from sharks to Typhon and the satyrs, and Polybius uses it often for war elephants.^[2][5]

As an insult it meant a beast or brute, in Aristophanes, Plato and Menander, and Epimenides called the Cretans “evil beasts”.^[2][5] Aristotle cites the saying “either a beast or a god” of what is below or above human nature.^[2] It was also a name for poisonous animals, and the constellation Lupus.^[2]

In the New Testament it is a snake in Acts and the apocalyptic beasts of Revelation.^[3][2] Coptic borrowed it, first in a manuscript dated 364.^[6] Medieval Greek had θηρίο (thirío) and θεριό (therió) for a wild animal, any animal or a great serpent.^[7] Modern Greek has the learned θηρίο (thirío) and the popular θεριό (therió), both “wild beast”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it of a huge stag.^[2][5]
• 7th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite uses the plural for the beasts, as against men, birds and fishes.^[2][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of any animal and of sea monsters.^[2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato use it as a term of abuse.^[2][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle cites the saying “either a beast or a god”.^[2]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it often of war elephants.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Acts uses it of a snake, and Revelation of the apocalyptic beasts.^[2][3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has θηρίο (thirío) and θεριό (therió) for a wild animal or a great serpent.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as θηρίο (thirío), with the popular form θεριό (therió).^[8][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wild animal, especially one that is hunted; a beast.^[2][5]
2. Any animal, including domestic animals, fish and small creatures.^[2][5]
3. A monster, a strange or supernatural creature; in Revelation, the apocalyptic beast.^[2][5][3]
4. A venomous animal, a snake.^[2][3]
5. As a term of abuse: a beast, brute.^[2][5]
6. (astronomy) The constellation Lupus.^[2]

Word family

• θηριότης (thēriótēs)
• θηριακός (thēriakós)
• θηριόδηγμα (thēriódēgma)
• θηριώδης (thēriṓdēs)

Related words

• θήρ (thḗr)
• Latin ferus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ 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. ^ 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
6. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
7. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux