κύμβαλον

Forms

κῠ́μβᾰλον (kúmbalon) n (genitive κῠμβᾰ́λου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “cup, bowl”), with the suffix of κρόταλον (krótalon, “rattle”): the cymbal is named after its hollow, bowl-like shape.^[2][3][4][1] Babiniotis compares ῥόπαλον (rhópalon) for the suffix.^[5]

The base has been compared since Curtius with Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbhá-, “pot”) and Celtic vessel names, but Beekes and Frisk note that its sound shape cannot be inherited Indo-European and take it for a wandering word, and Beekes, with Furnée and Chantraine, also allows a Pre-Greek origin.^[2][4][3] Yakubovich proposed a link with Hittite ḫuḫupal (“a musical instrument”), but the sounds and the uncertain sense of the Hittite word rule this out.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pindar, in the plural, for a pair of cymbals,^[6][2] and Babiniotis notes that a fragment of Aeschylus probably has it as well.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Xenophon has it in the singular, but the word was mostly used in the plural, for the pair of hollow metal plates struck together, also in ritual.^[6][7][8][9] The Septuagint used it for the cymbals of Israel's worship, and Paul's “clashing cymbal” in 1 Corinthians 13:1 became proverbial.^[10][9][11] Callimachus has a masculine form.^[7]

Latin borrowed it as cymbalum.^[1] Modern Greek κύμβαλο (kýmvalo) is a learned form of the ancient word, and the phrase “clashing cymbal” is said of an empty person who tries to seem important.^[12][5]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it, in the plural, for cymbals.^[6][2][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it in the singular.^[6][7][13]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus from Hibeh mentions cymbals.^[6][9]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the cymbals of temple worship.^[10][14]
• 1st century AD – Paul writes of a “clashing cymbal” in 1 Corinthians.^[9][11]
• Modern Greek – The learned κύμβαλο (kýmvalo) names the cymbal.^[12][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cymbal, usually in the plural, for a pair of cymbals.^[6][7][9]

Word family

• κυμβάλιον (kumbálion)
• κυμβαλίζω (kumbalízō)
• κυμβαλιστής (kumbalistḗs)

Related words

• κύμβη (kúmbē)
• κρόταλον (krótalon)
• Latin cymbalum

Usage notes

BDAG reads the “clashing cymbal” of 1 Corinthians 13:1 as a figure for empty noise.^[9][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 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. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c d e f 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
10. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
12. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
14. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux