κογχύλιον

Forms

κογχῠ́λῐον (konkhúlion) n (genitive κογχῠλῐ́οῠ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, formed from Ancient Greek κογχύλη (konkhúlē) + -ιον (-ion), where κογχύλη (konkhúlē) is itself a diminutive of κόγχη (kónkhē, “mussel”) and κόγχος (kónkhos).^[1][2][3]

Beekes leaves the origin of κόγχη (kónkhē) open: it is compared with Sanskrit शङ्ख (śaṅkhá, “conch”), but no common pre-form can be set up, and the related κόχλος (kókhlos) suggests a Pre-Greek word with prenasalization; if the Sanskrit comparison holds, both may have borrowed it from a third source.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

LSJ's first citations are in Epicharmus and Sophron, where it names a small mussel or cockle,^[2] and in the 5th century BC Herodotus uses it of shells.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word named a small shellfish of the mussel or cockle kind and, more widely, any mollusc or its shell.^[2] Aristotle uses it in his zoological works, and it also appears in the Hippocratic Regimen.^[2][6] Seal-impressions were covered with a shell of this kind, and Plutarch uses the word for a fossil shell.^[2] Crito, quoted by Galen, and Dioscorides use it as a synonym of κόχλος (kókhlos).^[2]

Latin borrowed it as conchȳlium, beside concha from κόγχη (kónkhē).^[4] The Modern Greek word for a seashell, κοχύλι (kochýli), continues it.^[7][8][9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Sophron uses it of a small mussel, and Herodotus of shells.^[2][6][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of shellfish in his zoological works.^[2][6][5]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of a fossil shell.^[2][5]
• 3rd century AD – A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus lists it.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The seashell is called κοχύλι (kochýli).^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small kind of mussel or cockle.^[2][3]
2. Any mollusc, or its shell; a seashell, also a fossil shell.^[2][3][10]
3. The same as κόχλος (kókhlos).^[2]
4. Purple, the dye.^[10]

Related words

• κόγχη (kónkhē)
• κόγχος (kónkhos)
• κόχλος (kókhlos)
• Latin conchȳlium
• Latin concha

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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
9. ^ Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
10. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli