κόμη

Forms

κόμη (kómē) f (genitive κόμης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is not explained with certainty.^[2][3] It has been taken to mean “well-tended hair”, as opposed to θρίξ (thríx, “hair”), and connected with κομέω (koméō, “to take care of”).^[2][3][1] Schwyzer considered it a back-formation from κομάω (komáō, “to wear long hair”) and took that verb as a by-form of κομέω, but Beekes and Chantraine object that κομάω (komáō) never means “to take care of”.^[2][3] Babiniotis derives it from a root Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“to cover”).^[4]

Ancient writers derived it from κομέω (Hesychius), from κόσμος (kósmos, “ornament”), as the ornament of the body (the D scholia on Homer), or from κείρω (keírō, “to cut”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning the hair of the head, and also the mane of a horse.^[2][6] In the Odyssey it is used figuratively for the foliage of an olive tree.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In Homer and in tragedy locks of hair were cut and offered to the dead.^[6] In Attic comedy long hair was the mark of a dandy or of a Spartan.^[6] Aristotle uses it for the tail of a comet, and his word for a comet, κομήτης (komḗtēs), means “long-haired”.^[2]

It was borrowed as Latin coma (“hair”).^[2][7] The New Testament uses it for a woman's long hair.^[8] It survives as a learned word, Modern Greek κόμη (kómi).^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the hair of the head, the Odyssey for the foliage of an olive tree.^[6][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes mocks long hair as a fashion.^[6][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon mentions the false hair worn by the Medes.^[6][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the tail of a comet.^[2][11]
• 1st century AD – Paul uses it for a woman's long hair.^[8]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the learned Modern Greek κόμη (kómi).^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The hair of the head, often collectively; tresses.^[6][12]
2. Long hair, worn as a fashion.^[6]
3. A single lock of hair.^[6]
4. The mane of a horse.^[2]
5. (figurative) The foliage of a tree; growth in general.^[6][2]
6. The tail of a comet.^[2]

Word family

• ἱππόκομος (hippókomos)
• κομάω (komáō)
• κομήτης (komḗtēs)
• ὑψίκομος (hupsíkomos)
• εὔκομος (eúkomos)
• κόμιον (kómion)
• κομίσκη (komískē)
• πυκνόκομον (puknókomon)
• χρυσοκόμη (khrūsokómē)

Related words

• κομέω (koméō)
• Latin coma

Usage notes

Chantraine distinguishes it from θρίξ (thríx), which means hair in general, and notes that it is usually used in the singular.^[3]

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 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 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. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press