κλίνη

Forms

κλῑ́νη (klī́nē) f (genitive κλῑ́νης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κλίνω (klī́nō, “to lean, make lie down”) + -η (-ē), “that on which one reclines”.^[1][2][3]

The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).^[4][5] Its nasal present is shared with Latin clīnō, Old High German hlinēn (“to lean”) and Lithuanian šliñti (“to lean”), although the Greek present formation is an innovation.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Xenophanes, in the 6th–5th century BC, of lying on a soft couch at a meal.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The klínē was both the couch on which Greeks reclined at meals and the bed for sleeping, and a richly made one could have ivory feet or be covered in gold and silver.^[2] It was also the litter or stretcher on which the sick were carried, and the bier: Thucydides and Plato use it for the couch on which the dead were borne.^[2][6] In inscriptions from Naples and Cumae it is a niche in a grave.^[2]

Papyri of the Roman period use “sacred couch” for the Latin lectisternium, a banquet set out for a god, and for the ceremonial banquet of the lord Sarapis; a papyrus of the 3rd century BC already uses it for a banquet.^[2] In the New Testament it is a bed, a stretcher for the sick and a sickbed.^[6]

The word lived on in medieval Greek and is a learned word in Modern Greek, κλίνη (klíni) “bed”, with a sense “berth” taken from English berth.^[8][9] Modern compounds such as the word for a bedspread are calques on German.^[3]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Xenophanes speaks of lying on a soft couch.^[3][6][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes couches covered with gold and silver, and Thucydides uses the word for a bier.^[2][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Andocides speaks of being carried on a litter and of rising from one's bed after an illness.^[2][10]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus uses it for a banquet.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it for a bed and for a stretcher on which the sick are carried.^[6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Papyri use “sacred couch” for a banquet held in honour of a god.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned κλίνη (klíni) means “bed”.^[9][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A couch for reclining at meals, or a bed.^[2][6]
2. A litter or stretcher for the sick; a sickbed.^[2][6]
3. A bier.^[2][6]
4. A niche in a grave.^[2]
5. (papyri, “sacred couch”) A ritual banquet for a god, Latin lectisternium; generally, a banquet.^[2]

Word family

• κλινίδιον (klinídion)
• κλινικός (klīnikós)

Related words

• κλίνω (klī́nō)
• κλισία (klisíā)
• English clinic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge