λόγχη

Forms

λόγχη (lónkhē) f (genitive λόγχης); first declension^[1] Doric λόγχᾱ.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is unknown, and Beekes finds all the earlier explanations unconvincing.^[3][4] One took it as "the one that reaches", from λαγχάνω (lankhánō), and another as "the long one", from a lost *λόγχος (*lónkhos) matching Latin longus (“long”).^[3][4][5] Some scholars made Latin lancea (“lance”) an indirect borrowing from λόγχη, though the Latin word is generally held to be Celtic.^[4][5] Wiktionary mentions Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to strike”) as a possible source.^[1] The comparison with Biblical Hebrew רֹמַח (rōmaḥ, “lance”), proposed by Lagarde, was rejected early, and Rosół lists it among the rejected Semitic etymologies.^[6]

Ancient grammarians derived it from λόχος (lókhos, “ambush”), as the weapon fit for an ambush, or from the phrase "much held".^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pindar and Aeschylus.^[5][8] In Pindar it is a spear.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus, Sophocles and Xenophon use it for the iron head of a spear, and the poets and prose writers for the spear itself.^[2][9] In Sophocles and Euripides it can stand for a body of spearmen.^[2] The Gospel of John uses it for a lance, and BDAG notes that the sense “spear-point” is also possible there.^[10] Coptic borrowed it as ⲗⲟⲅⲭⲏ (lonkhē), first in a manuscript of about AD 300.^[11]

Medieval Greek kept the word, also in the form Byzantine Greek λόχη (lókhē).^[12] In Modern Greek λόγχη (lónchi) is a learned word for the bayonet.^[13][14]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it for a spear.^[2][5][15]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles use it for a spear-head.^[2][9][15]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of John uses it for a lance.^[10]
• About AD 300 – The Coptic borrowing first appears in a dated manuscript.^[11]
• Modern Greek – It is the word for a bayonet.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spear-head; apparently also a sword-blade.^[2][16]
2. A spear, lance or javelin.^[2][10]
3. A body of spearmen.^[2]

Word family

• λογχωτός (lonkhōtós)
• λογχεύω (lonkheúō)
• λογχιάζω (lonkhiázō)
• λογχίον (lonkhíon)
• λογχῖτις (lonkhîtis)
• λογχόω (lonkhóō)

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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b 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
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
7. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
15. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
16. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press