κλῆρος

Forms

κλῆρος (klêros) m (genitive κλήρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[1][2] The usual explanation connects it with κλάω (kláō, “to break off”), with the same ablaut grade as in κλῆμα (klêma, “twig”): the lot was originally a shard of stone or a chip of wood.^[2][3][1] Wiktionary traces this root to Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to hit, cut down”), with cognates such as Latin clādēs.^[1] Frisk and Beekes also note that the word is formally identical with a Celtic word for a board or plank, Old Irish clár and Welsh claur, with Breton kleur, a cartwright's term for the shafts of a wagon, but Beekes doubts the connection on semantic grounds and even marks the word as possibly Pre-Greek.^[2][3] Matasović connects it with Proto-Celtic *klāros (“board, plank”), from Indo-European *kléh₂ros, supposing that the Greek lot was first a piece of wood.^[1] Doric has κλᾶρος (klâros).^[4][5]

Ancient grammarians derived it from καλέω (kaléō, “to call”), as the thing that calls the winner to itself, or, in Herodian's view, from κᾶλον (kâlon, “wood”), because lots were cut into pieces of wood.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad a κλῆρος is a marked lot: each warrior marks his token and throws it into a helmet, which is shaken until one leaps out.^[4][5] In Homer and Hesiod it also means the land held by a family, an estate.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

From the token the word passed to the casting of lots, to what fell to someone by lot, and to allotted land: in Herodotus, Thucydides and Plato it is a plot assigned by the state to a citizen or settler, and more generally a landholding.^[5][4] Since land passed down in families, it came to mean an inheritance, and in Demosthenes an inheritance suit.^[5]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament it keeps the lot (“to cast lots”, “the lot fell on him”) and also means a share or portion, especially one given by divine grace, as a share in “this ministry” in the Acts of the Apostles.^[8] From the 2nd century the Christians used it, and the adjective κληρικός (klērikós), for the clergy as opposed to the laity.^[2][9] Triantafyllidis explains this sense as a semantic loan from Hebrew in Hellenistic Greek.^[10] Church Latin took over the derivative as Latin clericus, the source of English clerk, cleric and clergy.^[9] Modern Greek κλήρος (klíros) is both the inherited word for a lot or a ticket in a draw and, as a learned word, the clergy.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the lots that warriors cast in a helmet.^[4][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days uses it for a family's landholding.^[7][5][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for land allotted to citizens or settlers.^[5][11]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for an inheritance suit.^[5][11]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for casting lots and for a share in a ministry.^[8]
• 2nd century AD – Christian writers use it for the clergy.^[2][9]
• Modern Greek – κλήρος means a lot in a draw and, as a learned word, the clergy.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lot, the marked token used in casting lots, also in divination.^[4][5]
2. The casting of lots.^[5][4] κλήρῳ, by lot.^[5]
3. What falls to someone by lot, an allotted share or fate.^[5]
4. A piece of land allotted to a citizen, an allotment; a landholding, estate.^[5][4]
5. The allotted territory of a people; a king's realm.^[5]
6. An inheritance.^[5] (law) An inheritance suit.^[5]
7. (New Testament) A share or portion given by God.^[8]
8. (Christian) The clergy.^[2][10]

Word family

• κληρονόμος (klēronómos)
• κληρωτήριον (klērōtḗrion)
• ὁλόκληρος (holóklēros)

Related words

• κλάω (kláō)
• κλῆμα (klêma)
• κληρόω (klēróō)
• κληρικός (klērikós)
• English clergy
• English clerk

Usage notes

A separate κλῆρος in Aristotle is a beetle that does harm in beehives.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge