λέχος

Forms

λέχος (lékhos) n (genitive λέχους or λέχεος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *légʰos, an s-stem noun from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”),^[1][2] the root of the verb λέχεται (lékhetai) “lies down”, known from Hesychius, of the epic aorist λέκτο (lékto) and of λόχος (lókhos).^[2][3]

Cognate with Latin lectus (“bed”), Tocharian B leke (“lair”), Old Norse lag (“position”), Russian лог (log, “valley”) and Albanian lagje (“band, quarter”).^[2][1][4] Its derivative λέκτρον (léktron) matches Old High German lehtar (“womb”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, for a bed or bedstead, often in the plural, and for a bier.^[5][6] The Iliad has ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν, “sharing my bed”.^[6] A derivative is already Mycenaean: Mycenaean Greek re-ke-to-ro-te-ri-jo, read as λεχεστρωτήριον, a festival of strewing couches, compared with Latin lectisternium.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word.^[6] Beside the bed for sleep and the marriage bed, the poets used it for marriage itself and, beginning with Sappho, for the spouse or partner.^[5][6] Aeschylus and Sophocles called a bird's nest by it.^[5][6] Pindar spoke of adultery as another's bed.^[6] Πάπυρος records it only for Ancient Greek.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a bed, the marriage bed and a bier.^[5][6]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it for a spouse.^[5][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of adultery.^[6][8] Aeschylus uses it for a bird's nest.^[6][5][8]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for a bier.^[5][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bed, couch, bedstead; often in the plural for a single bed.^[5][6]
2. The marriage bed; hence marriage.^[5][6]
3. A spouse or partner.^[5]
4. A bier for a corpse.^[5][6]
5. The nest of a bird.^[5]

Word family

• λεχεποίης (lekhepoíēs)
• λεχήρης (lekhḗrēs)
• λεχώ (lekhṓ)
• ὀρειλεχής (oreilekhḗs)

Related words

• λέκτρον (léktron)
• λέχομαι (lékhomai)
• λόχος (lókhos)
• ἄλοχος (álokhos)
• Latin lectus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge