λείριον

Forms

λείριον (leírion) n (genitive λειρίου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it a Pre-Greek word, that, like Latin līlium, came from a language of the eastern Mediterranean.^[2][3][4] A similar word for the lily is found in Coptic, Fayyumic Coptic ϩⲗⲏⲣⲓ (hlēri) and Sahidic ϩⲣⲏⲣⲉ (hrēre), from Egyptian ḥrr-t.^[2][1][4] There are similar words for “flower” in Berber, in Albanian lule and in Hittite alil-.^[2][3][4] Scarborough's PHILOGLOSSA database rates the substrate origin as very reliable.^[5] Saalfeld, however, derives the Latin word from the Greek one.^[6]

Beekes rejects an older connection of the gloss λειρός (leirós, “thin and pale”) with Lithuanian leĩlas (“thin”), and takes λειριόεις (leirióeis), λείριος (leírios) and the gloss as derivatives of λείριον, “lily-white, soft as lilies”.^[2] The grammarian Herodian derived it from λεῖος (leîos, “smooth”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first found in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, where the plural λείρια names lilies.^[8][9][2] The adjective λειριόεις is older: in the Iliad it describes lily-like skin and the delicate voice of the cicadas.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word names the Madonna lily, Lilium candidum, in the Hippocratic writers, Apollonius of Rhodes and Theophrastus, and Dioscorides equates it with κρίνον (krínon).^[8][2] Theophrastus and Dioscorides also use it for kinds of narcissus.^[8][2] Pindar has the phrase λείριον ἄνθεμον, “lily flower”.^[2] The personal name Ποδαλείριος, “lily-foot”, found in the Iliad, contains the word.^[5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad has the derived adjective λειριόεις, of skin and of the cicadas' voice.^[8]
• 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Demeter uses the noun for lilies.^[8][9]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writers use it for the lily.^[8][2]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for the Madonna lily and for kinds of narcissus.^[8][10]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of lilies.^[8][9]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides equates it with κρίνον.^[8][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The lily, especially the Madonna lily, Lilium candidum.^[8][11]
2. A narcissus, such as the polyanthus narcissus or the autumn narcissus.^[8]

Word family

• λειριόεις (leirióeis)
• λείριος (leírios)
• λείρινος (leírinos)

Related words

• κρίνον (krínon)
• Latin lilium
• English lily

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
6. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
7. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press