κρίκος

Forms

κρῐ́κος (kríkos) m (genitive κρῐ́κου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2] A metathesised form κίρκος (kírkos) appears in Hellenistic Greek, but κρίκος is the older form.^[2][3][4] Since this form would have an impossible root structure in Indo-European, Beekes regards every further analysis as hypothetical.^[2][4]

Chantraine connects it with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ger- (“to bend”) (as in κυρτός (kurtós) and Latin curvus), through a reduplicated *gi-gr-o-;^[3] Babiniotis and Wiktionary derive it from a reduplicated form of *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”).^[5][1] Beekes and De Vaan take circus (“circle”) as a loan from the metathesised Greek form, and with circulus it is the source of the Western European words for “circle”;^[2][3] Chantraine finds the loan more plausible than a common origin.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its only Homeric passage, in the Iliad, it is the ring on the yoke of a chariot, slipped over the peg on the pole.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it for the rings on a sail through which ropes were threaded, and later writers for rings on curtains and chains, arm-bands and finger-rings.^[7][2][3] In the Septuagint it is a ring or link of the tabernacle curtains, and a ring through a beast's nose in Job.^[8]

Medieval Greek used it figuratively of a member of a family, a link in the chain.^[9] Modern Greek κρίκος (kríkos) is a learned revival meaning a ring or link; the plural for the gymnastic rings is a semantic loan from French anneaux.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of a ring on a wagon yoke.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of rings on a sail.^[7][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of a bracelet.^[7][12]
• Septuagint – Exodus uses it of the rings of the tabernacle curtains.^[8]
• Medieval Greek – Doukas uses it figuratively of a member of a family.^[9]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek κρίκος (kríkos) is revived as a learned word.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring linking a wagon-yoke to the pole.^[7][6]
2. A ring on a sail, a curtain or a chain; a link.^[7][2][8]
3. An arm-ring, bangle or finger-ring.^[7][2]
4. A nose ring.^[8]

Word family

• κρικωτός (krikōtós)
• κιρκόω (kirkóō)

Related words

• Latin circus
• English circle

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge