καρωτίδες

Forms

κᾰρωτῐ́δες (karōtídes) f pl (genitive κᾰρωτῐ́δων); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek καρόω (karóō, “to plunge into deep sleep, stupefy”), with a suffix of feminine nouns.^[1][2] The physician Rufus already derived the name from that verb, and Wiktionary and Etymonline explain it by the belief that pressing these arteries in the neck made a person lose consciousness, a view that Etymonline traces to Galen.^[3][1][4] Etymonline adds that if this is a folk etymology, the word might instead come from κάρα (kára, “head”);^[4] Beekes doubts that the verb itself is formed from that word for the head.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest text with it in the GLAUx corpus is Rufus of Ephesus' book on the names of the parts of the body, which uses it of the great arteries of the neck.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The physicians Aretaeus and Galen use the plural for the two carotid arteries, and a singular phrase, the “carotid artery”, is quoted from Antyllus by Oribasius.^[3][6] Pape describes them as the main arteries thought to bring on apoplexy.^[7] English carotid is recorded from the 1540s, from the Greek word.^[4]

Timeline

• 1st–2nd century AD – Rufus of Ephesus names the arteries and derives the name from the verb for stupefying.^[3][5]
• 2nd century AD – Aretaeus and Galen use it of the carotid arteries.^[3][5]
• 2nd century AD – Antyllus, quoted by Oribasius, speaks of a single carotid artery.^[3]
• 1540s – English adopts carotid.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The carotid arteries, the great arteries of the neck.^[3][6][8]

Related words

• καρόω (karóō)
• κάρος (káros)
• English carotid

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
7. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli