κεραμικός

Forms

κερᾰμῐκός (keramikós) m (feminine κερᾰμῐκή, neuter κερᾰμῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κέραμος (kéramos, “potter's clay; tile; earthen jar”) + -ικός (-ikós), one of several adjectives of material made from that noun in Ionic and Attic.^[1][2][3] BDAG notes that it would belong to the potter if it were formed like κεραμεικός (kerameikós) from κεραμεύς (kerameús, “potter”), but means “made of clay” if it comes from κέραμος.^[4] Chantraine notes that κεραμεικός, properly the potters' quarter of Athens, sometimes stands for κεραμικός in Xenophon, perhaps by a copying error.^[5]

Beekes finds no certain etymology for κέραμος: a link with κεράννυμι (keránnūmi, “to mix”) is possible in form but not convincing in sense, and a root meaning “to burn, glow” would suit the sense better.^[2] Since a number of nouns with the ending -μος (-mos) look like loanwords, he thinks this technical term of tile-making may be of Pre-Greek or Anatolian origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in the Hippocratic Internal Affections, which speaks of potter's earth, and Aristophanes uses it in the opening lines of the Ecclesiazusae, where LSJ takes it of the potters' quarter and the CGL of the potter's wheel.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Plato calls the potter's art ἡ κεραμική, with τέχνη (tékhnē) understood.^[6][7] An inscription from Epidaurus of the 4th century BC speaks of earthen tiles, Strabo names the potter's wheel with it, and comedy called ostracism the “earthen scourge”.^[6] In Plutarch the neuter means the tiling of a roof.^[7] The Septuagint uses it for “made of clay” in Daniel, and Revelation speaks of clay vessels being smashed.^[8][4]

Modern Greek κεραμικός (keramikós) is a learned revival of the ancient adjective and its feminine noun.^[9] It describes things made of fired clay, such as ceramic tiles and pots.^[9][10] The English word ceramic was taken from the Greek in 1850, at first spelled keramic.^[11]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Internal Affections uses it of potter's earth.^[6]
• 5th to 4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it in the Ecclesiazusae.^[6][7]
• 5th to 4th century BC – Plato calls the potter's art ἡ κεραμική.^[6][7]
• 4th century BC – An inscription from Epidaurus uses it of earthen tiles.^[6]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint's Daniel uses it for “made of clay”.^[8][12]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses it of the potter's wheel.^[6]
• 1st to 2nd century AD – Plutarch uses the neuter for the tiling of a roof.^[7]
• 3rd century AD – A papyrus mentions a pottery workshop.^[6]
• 1850 – The English word ceramic is first recorded, spelled keramic.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for pottery; of the potter; made of clay.^[6][7][8][4]
2. (feminine as a noun, with τέχνη (tékhnē) understood) The potter's art, ceramics.^[6][7]
3. (neuter as a noun) Tiling, the tiles of a roof.^[7]

Related words

• κέραμος (kéramos)
• κεραμεύς (kerameús)
• English ceramic

Usage notes

Under this spelling Photius notes that Athens had two Kerameikoi, one inside the city and one outside it, where those who fell in war were buried at public expense.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
13. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)