θηριακός

Forms

θηρῐᾰκός (thēriakós) m (feminine θηρῐᾰκή, neuter θηρῐᾰκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek θηρίον (thēríon, “wild animal, beast”) + -ακός (-akós).^[1][2][3] Köbler places it in the family of θήρ (thḗr, “wild beast”).^[4]

The feminine used as a noun, θηριακή (thēriakḗ) (with “antidote” understood), became the name of the medicine theriac.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest use is in the title of Nicander's poem Theriaca (2nd century BC), on venomous animals and the remedies for their bites.^[5][6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means “concerning wild and especially venomous animals”: Dioscorides speaks of the treatise on such creatures, and Philumenus calls Philinus “the theriac writer”, the author who wrote on them.^[5][6] From this it came to mean “good against the bites of wild animals”, of drugs, of a wine in Dioscorides and of a vine in the Geoponica (which Pliny also mentions).^[5][3][9] Pape adds salts and similar preparations made from venomous animals.^[6]

Physicians of the Roman period used the feminine as a noun for an antidote against poisonous bites, as Andromachus does in a passage quoted by Galen;^[5] Galen also speaks of theriac drugs and gives the title to other works.^[5][6] In Modern Greek the feminine survives, also spelled θεριακή (theriakí), for the old antidote against poisonous bites.^[7]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Nicander's poem on venomous animals and their antidotes bears the title Theriaca.^[5][6][8]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it of the treatise on venomous animals and of a wine good against their bites, and Andromachus uses the feminine for an antidote.^[5][8]
• 2nd century AD – Galen speaks of theriac drugs, and Philumenus calls Philinus the writer on venomous animals.^[5][8]
• 10th century AD – The Geoponica speak of a theriac vine.^[5][8]
• Modern Greek – The feminine θηριακή (thiriakí) names the old antidote against poisonous bites.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Concerning wild animals, especially venomous ones.^[5][6][3]
2. Good against the bites of venomous animals, of drugs, wine or a vine.^[5][3][9]
3. (feminine, as a noun) An antidote against poisonous bites, theriac.^[5][6][3]
4. (neuter plural, as a noun) The Theriaca, the title of Nicander's didactic poem on venomous animals.^[5][6][3]

Related words

• θηρίον (thēríon)
• θηριακή (thēriakḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e f Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli