λυγρός

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /ly.ɡrós/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /lyˈɣros/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /lyˈɣros/^[1]

Forms

λῠγρός (lugrós) m (feminine λῠγρᾱ́, neuter λῠγρόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *luǵrós,^[1] the zero grade beside λευγαλέος (leugaléos) “wretched”: the pair is of an old type, like ἐρευθαλέος (ereuthaléos) beside ἐρυθρός (eruthrós).^[2][3][4] Both adjectives are isolated, and they have no exact match in other languages.^[2][4]

Their closest relative in meaning is Latin lūgeō (“to mourn”), which may be a denominative of a noun *lowgos.^[2][3][4] Since the Latin words describe the violent outward signs of mourning, the family has been connected with verbs for “to break”, such as Lithuanian lū́žti (“to break (intransitive)”) and a Sanskrit verb meaning “to break, torment”, from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to break”).^[3][4][2] Wiktionary writes the root with a palatal velar, while Beekes follows the LIV in a plain velar.^[1][2]

Ancient scholia on Hesiod derived it from λίαν (lían, “very”) and ὑγρός (hugrós, “moist”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, of death, old age, pains and slaughter that bring grief, and, as a term of contempt, of a sorry, worthless man who shirks battle.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Homer also uses it actively, of things that bring harm, such as baneful drugs set against good ones, and of sorry garments; the neuter plural means banes or miseries.^[6][7] The word stayed in poetry: Archilochus speaks of grim fear, Sappho of painful sorrow, Pindar of strife, Bacchylides of battles, and the tragedians of grief, wrath, plague and disease.^[6][8] Sophocles also uses it of a wretched, pitiable person, and Apollonius Rhodius of mournful halcyons.^[8] The adverb λυγρῶς “sorely” occurs in the Iliad.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of grievous death and old age and of cowardly men.^[6][7]
• 7th century BC – Archilochus uses it of fear.^[6][9]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it of sorrow.^[6][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of strife.^[6][9]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it of plague and disease, and of a pitiable person.^[6][8][9]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius calls halcyons mournful.^[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Grievous, baneful, mournful: of death, old age, war, grief and suffering.^[6][8]
2. Bringing harm, pernicious: of drugs, signs, the belly.^[6][8]
3. Of persons: wretched, pitiable; as a term of contempt, sorry, cowardly.^[6][8][7]
4. Of garments: sorry, wretched.^[6][8]
5. (neuter plural, as a noun) Banes, miseries, ruin.^[6]

Word family

• λυγροπαθής (lugropathḗs)

Related words

• λευγαλέος (leugaléos)
• Latin lūgeō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge