λέκτρον

Forms

λέκτρον (léktron) n (genitive λέκτρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek λέχομαι (lékhomai, “to lie down”) + -τρον (-tron, “instrument suffix”), the verbal root of λέχος (lékhos, “bed”) with the suffix of instrument nouns, or is an inherited noun, Proto-Indo-European *légʰtrom.^[1] It matches Old High German lehtar (“uterus”) exactly.^[2][3] The root is Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”),^[2][4] also seen in the present λέχεται (lékhetai, “lies down”), known from Hesychius, and in λόχος (lókhos, “ambush; childbed”).^[2] Other Indo-European names of the bed from the same root have other suffixes, such as Latin lectus.^[3]

The Etymologicum Magnum derives it from lying down and coming to rest in bed, as if from λήγω (lḗgō, “to cease”), with an added ⟨ρ⟩.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it, mostly in the Odyssey, for a bed or bedstead, often in the plural for a single bed.^[6][7] Its first instance, in the Iliad (22.503), is such a plural, and in the Odyssey (1.437) someone sits down on the bed; the adverb λέκτρονδε means “to bed” (Odyssey 8.292).^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In lyric and tragedy it mostly means the marriage bed, and by metonymy marriage itself.^[7][9] Euripides speaks of betraying or shaming a marriage with the plural, and calls illicit unions “bastard” or “slave” beds.^[7][9] Apollonius Rhodius and a historian quoted by Dionysius of Halicarnassus seem to use it for the offspring of a union.^[9][7] An ancient lexicon records it as the Arcadian word for a couch, κλίνη (klínē).^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a bed.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the marriage bed.^[7][9][10]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses the plural for marriage and for illicit unions.^[7][9][10]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius perhaps uses it for offspring.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bed, couch.^[7][9]
2. A marriage bed; by metonymy, marriage.^[7][9]
3. A sexual union outside marriage.^[9][7]
4. Perhaps the fruit of a union, offspring, a child.^[9][7]

Related words

• λέχος (lékhos)
• λόχος (lókhos)
• ἄλοχος (álokhos)
• λεχώ (lekhṓ)
• Latin lectus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge