κόρις

Forms

κόρῐς (kóris) m (genitive κόρεως or κόρῐος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

In Chantraine's and Wiktionary's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-is (“cutting, gnawing”), an old verbal noun of the root *(s)ker- (“to cut”) that is seen in κείρω (keírō, “to shear”).^[2][1][3] It matches Russian корь (korʹ, “moth”) exactly, and its i-stem is the one of τρόπις (trópis) and τρόχις (trókhis).^[2][4][3] Beekes reports this traditional analysis but doubts it, because an inherited word shared with Russian is very unlikely for so specialised a meaning.^[4] Wiktionary mentions an alternative link through Pre-Greek with ἀκαρί (akarí, “mite”), and compares καρίς (karís, “shrimp”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristophanes uses it for the bedbug in the Clouds, with a pun on the word for “Corinthians”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In comedy the bedbug is a stock torment of the bed: Aristophanes has it again in the Frogs and the Wealth, and Aristotle describes it among the insects.^[5][7] The noun is masculine in Attic, with genitive κόρεως, but Soranus and Phrynichus treat it as feminine.^[5][4]

From its flat shape it also named a flat fish, the same as the ἔσχαρος (éskharos), in Dorion and in a Boeotian inscription,^[5][4][2] and in Dioscorides a kind of St John's wort, perhaps after the shape of its leaves.^[4][2] Latin likewise named a plant cimicia after the bug.^[2] Derivatives are rare: κορίζω (korízō), “to be full of bugs”, in the glossaries, and ἐκκορίζω (ekkorízō), “to clear of bugs”, in the Anthology.^[2] Medieval Greek kept both the masculine ancient noun and a later feminine.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for the bedbug in the Clouds, the Frogs and the Wealth.^[5][6][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the bedbug in the History of Animals.^[7][9]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it for a kind of St John's wort.^[5][4][9]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Soranus treats the noun as feminine.^[5][9]
• Byzantine period – Medieval vernacular Greek uses both a masculine and a feminine noun.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bedbug, Cimex lectularius.^[5][6][4]
2. A flat fish, the same as the ἔσχαρος (éskharos).^[5][4]
3. A kind of St John's wort, Hypericum empetrifolium.^[5][4]

Word family

• κορίζω (korízō)
• ἐκκορίζω (ekkorízō)

Related words

• κείρω (keírō)

Usage notes

The Suda gives a genitive κόριδος, which is not found in classical Greek.^[5] Hesychius glosses the word as a fish and as a plant that some call χαμαίπιτυς (khamaípitus).^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c 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 c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)