θρῆνος

Forms

θρῆνος (thrênos) m (genitive θρήνου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes thinks it is probably Pre-Greek.^[2] Within Greek it goes with θρώναξ (thrṓnax), a Laconian word for the drone recorded by Hesychius, which shows a different ablaut grade, and with the reduplicated τενθρήνη (tenthrḗnē, “hornet”).^[2][3] Words for sounds that look similar occur in other languages, such as Sanskrit ध्रणति (dhráṇati, “sounds”), Old Saxon dreno (“drone”), Old English drān (“drone”) and Latin drēnsō, used of the cry of swans; but Beekes and Frisk take these for independent imitations of a sound, not true cognates.^[2][3][1] LSJ derives it from θρέομαι (thréomai, “to cry aloud”).^[4]

The Etymologicum Gudianum explained it as what “breaks” or “heats” the mind.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first occurrence is in the last book of the Iliad (24.721), where singers lead the dirges over the dead.^[4][6][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it is the formal dirge sung over the dead, which Sappho, Pindar and the tragedians know too, and the Homeric Hymn to Pan uses it of the nightingale's lament.^[4][7] Pindar wrote poems called Thrênoi.^[4] In tragedy and in Plato it widens to any lamentation or wailing, and Plato also uses it for the feeling of grief.^[7][4] The grammarian Trypho distinguished it from the ἐπικήδειον: that was sung at the funeral, a θρῆνος at any time.^[4][8]

The New Testament has it in a variant reading at Matthew 2:18, quoting Jeremiah's Rachel weeping for her children.^[9] Medieval Greek kept it, and it is still Modern Greek θρήνος (thrínos).^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the dirges sung over the dead.^[4][6]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it of a lament.^[4][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar speaks of the dirge of the Gorgons and writes Thrênoi.^[4][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato pairs θρῆνοι with wailing and uses it for grief.^[4][7]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as θρήνος.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dirge, a lament for the dead.^[4][7]
2. Any expression of grief, a lamentation or sad strain.^[4][7]
3. (Plato) Mourning as a feeling.^[7]

Word family

• θρηνέω (thrēnéō)
• θρηνώδης (thrēnṓdēs)
• θρηνῳδία (thrēnōidíā)

Related words

• θρέομαι (thréomai)
• τενθρήνη (tenthrḗnē)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
9. ^ 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