λέων

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /lé.ɔːn/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈle.on/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈle.on/^[1]

Forms

λέων (léōn) m (genitive λέοντος); third declension^[1] Epic dative plural λείουσι, with metrical lengthening.^[2][3] Mycenaean re-wo-pi (instrumental plural) and the adjective re-wo-te-jo “of a lion”.^[2][4]

Etymology

The origin is unknown; it is probably a borrowing, but from what language is unclear.^[2][4][5] Beekes thinks a Semitic source probable, although the Semitic words for the lion, such as Akkadian labbu, differ considerably in form;^[2][4] Rosół lists λέων among oriental loanwords of unknown origin and doubts the Semitic link,^[6] and Πάπυρος finds morphological difficulties in it.^[5] Wiktionary notes that many ancient languages had similar words for the lion (Proto-Semitic *labiʾ-), that it is unclear who borrowed from whom, and that Gamkrelidze and Ivanov considered a borrowing into Proto-Indo-European itself.^[1]

The feminine λέαινα (léaina, “lioness”) suggests that the word was once an n-stem, like δράκων (drákōn), and that the -τ- of the stem λεοντ- came from the participles;^[2][1] but Mycenaean already has the nt-stem, which casts doubt on this.^[2][5] The epic synonym λῖς (lîs) is not connected with it.^[2][4]

Latin borrowed it as leō, with a new n-stem; from Latin it spread to other European languages, such as Old English lēo and Old High German lewo.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Mycenaean, in the instrumental plural re-wo-pi.^[2][6] Homer uses it for the lion;^[7][3] in the Iliad Zeus is said to have made Artemis “a lion to women”, because she was thought to bring them sudden death.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In tragedy and comedy the lion stands for savagery and also for courage: Aeschylus uses it of savage men and of brave ones, and of the cowardly Aegisthus as a “strengthless lion”.^[3][8] Aristophanes mocks men who are “lions at home, foxes in battle”, and Plato's “to shave a lion” means a dangerous undertaking.^[3][8]

From the 4th century BC it names the zodiacal sign Leo.^[3] By resemblance it also named a kind of crab, a sea-monster, a snake, a skin disease (the same as λεοντίασις (leontíasis)), a dance and the plant broomrape; in the mysteries of Mithras “Lions” were a grade of initiates.^[3][5]

In the Septuagint a man can be “lion-hearted”, and being saved from a lion's mouth means rescue from great danger.^[9] In the New Testament the devil goes about “like a roaring lion”, and the Messiah is the “Lion of the tribe of Judah”.^[10][11]

Medieval vernacular Greek had λέοντας and λιόντας.^[12] In Modern Greek λέων (léon) is a learned word, used in set phrases (“the lion's share”), for a brave man and for the constellation and sign Leo; the everyday word is the derivative Modern Greek λιοντάρι (liontári).^[13][14]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – The tablets have the instrumental plural re-wo-pi.^[2][6]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the lion.^[7][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of savage and of brave men.^[3][15]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes jokes about men who are “lions at home, foxes in battle”.^[3][15]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus names the constellation Leo.^[3][15]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament calls the Messiah the “Lion of the tribe of Judah”.^[10]
• 3rd century AD – Porphyry names “Lions” as a grade of Mithraic initiates.^[3][15]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek has the forms λέοντας and λιόντας.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lion.^[3][8]
2. (figurative) A savage person; a brave or strong one.^[3][8]
3. (astronomy) The constellation and zodiacal sign Leo.^[3]
4. A lion's skin.^[3]
5. A kind of crab; a sea-monster; a kind of snake.^[3]
6. (medicine) The disease λεοντίασις (leontíasis).^[3]
7. A kind of dance.^[3]
8. A grade of initiates in the mysteries of Mithras.^[3]
9. (botany) broomrape.^[3]

Word family

• χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn)
• θυμολέων (thūmoléōn)
• λεοντοπέταλον (leontopétalon)
• λεόπαρδος (leópardos)
• λέαινα (léaina)
• λεοντῆ (leontê)
• λεόντειος (leónteios)

Related words

• λῖς (lîs)
• Latin leō
• English chameleon
• English leopard

Usage notes

Ancient writers derived λέων from λάω (láō, “to look”), since the lion was believed to have very sharp sight and never to sleep.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ 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
11. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
15. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge