κηλίς

Forms

κηλῑ́ς (kēlī́s) f (genitive κηλῖδος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Its formation is like that of κληΐς (klēḯs) and κνημίς (knēmís), which are derived from nouns.^[2][3][1] Beekes proposes Proto-Indo-European *keh₂l- (“white spot”).^[2][1] Words of a similar sense are found in the language of stock-breeding: Latin calidus (“with a blaze on the forehead”) and Umbrian kaleřuf (“calidos (of oxen)”), and with a short vowel Lithuanian kalýbas (“white-necked (of dogs)”) and Old Irish caile (“stain”).^[2][3] Nussbaum suggested that the Latin word was borrowed from a Greek form *κάλαδ- (*kálad-).^[2] Chantraine prefers to leave aside cālīgō (“mist”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aeschylus' Eumenides, of a stain, especially of blood.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy it is mostly a stain of blood or a defilement, and figuratively a stain on a person: Sophocles speaks of the stain of misfortune and of evils.^[4] In Antiphon a stain falls on the killer as a divine punishment, and Xenophon tells of a Spartan punished by having to stand holding his shield, which the Spartans held a disgrace.^[4] Aristotle and Theophrastus use it for a spot on a mirror or a cloak, and medical writers for a birthmark.^[4]

Modern Greek κηλίδα (kilída) is a learned word for a spot or stain (of blood, rust or oil), a spot on an animal's coat, a skin blemish and a sunspot; one of its senses copies French macule.^[6]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it in the Eumenides for a stain.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it for a stain of blood and a blemish on one's name.^[4][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for a disgraceful punishment.^[4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a spot on a mirror.^[4]
• Modern Greek – The learned κηλίδα (kilída) means a spot or stain.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stain, spot or defilement, especially of blood.^[4][2]
2. (figurative) A stain on one's name, a blemish; a disgraceful punishment.^[4]
3. (medicine) A birthmark.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki