Etymologically
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λέων

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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)

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