Etymologically
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θρόνος

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tʰró.nos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈθro.nos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈθro.nos/[1]

Forms

θρόνος (thrónos) m (genitive θρόνου); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] Its formation has been compared with κλόνος (klónos).[2][3] It has been traced to Indo-European *dʰer- (“to hold, support”), the root of the perfect Sanskrit दाधार (dādhā́ra, “has held”), so that a throne would be a “support”.[2][3] Beekes finds this improbable: a suffix *-ono- did not exist, no other word for “chair” comes from this root, and the root has no certain Greek derivative.[2][1] The comparison with θρᾶνος (thrânos, “bench”) and θρῆνυς (thrênus, “footstool”) is also problematic.[2] He suggests it may be Pre-Greek.[2]

Mycenaean has Mycenaean Greek to-no, /thornos/, and to-ro-no-wo-ko, /thorno-worgoi/ “chair-makers”.[2][4] Hesychius records a Cypriot word θόρναξ (thórnax, “footstool”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets have Mycenaean Greek to-no.[2] Homer uses it for a seat or chair (Odyssey 1.130) and for the throne of a god (Iliad 1.536).[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

It was any seat, including the seat in a carriage (Aeschylus, Herodotus), and especially the seat of authority: the throne of a god or king (Pindar, Herodotus, tragedy), the chair of state, the seat of judges, and the tripod of the Delphic priestess.[7][6] Plato uses it for a teacher's chair, and figuratively (Republic 553c).[7][6] Aeschylus and Sophocles use the plural for royal power.[6]

The compound χρυσόθρονος (khrūsóthronos) “golden-throned” is Homeric.[2] Medieval Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek θρόνος is a throne, also a patriarchal throne.[8][9][10]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean – Linear B has to-no and to-ro-no-wo-ko.[2][4]
  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a seat and Zeus's throne.[5][6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a royal throne.[6][11]
  • 5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the plural for royal power.[6][11]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a teacher's chair.[7][11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A seat, chair.[6][7]
  2. A throne, of a god or king; a chair of state.[6][7]
  3. A judge's seat; the tripod of the Delphic priestess.[7][2]
  4. (plural) Royal power, sovereignty.[6]

Word family

  • εὔθρονος (eúthronos)
  • ποικιλόθρονος (poikilóthronos)
  • χρυσόθρονος (khrūsóthronos)

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 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
  5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge