μάργαρον

Forms

μάργᾰρον (márgaron) n (genitive μαργάρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably a back-formation from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarī́tēs, “pearl”), the usual word for the pearl from Theophrastus on.^[2][3][1] Chantraine describes it as a simplification by reverse derivation.^[4]

That word is an Oriental loanword.^[2][4] Most scholars derive it from Iranian: Schiffer took it from Middle Persian marvārīt (“pearl”).^[2][3] Chantraine argues that the Greeks, who came to know the pearl through Alexander's expedition, must have met it first in Iran; the Middle Persian word, perhaps itself a borrowing, would then have suggested the suffix ⟨-ίτης⟩, which was common in the names of stones.^[4] Beekes points to a critical discussion of the Iranian etymology by Brust.^[2]

The older view derived it from Sanskrit मञ्जरी (mañjarī, “flower bud; pearl”), with the Greek suffix added.^[2][3] Frisk and Beekes note that the by-form मञ्जर (mañjara) would suit μάργαρον well, but that both words are late and rare, which tells against equating them directly.^[3][2] Rosół lists the proposals of a Semitic source, among them Winckler's Akkadian phrase “child of the sea”, among the Semitic etymologies he rejects.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Anacreontea, meaning a pearl.^[6][7][2]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rarer synonym of μαργαρίτης.^[2][4] Pausanias uses it in the plural, and Philostratus and Procopius have it too.^[8] A papyrus of Stockholm has it, with the diminutive μαργαριτάριον, in recipes.^[2][4] The masculine or feminine μάργαρος (márgaros) is found in Tzetzes, and in Aelian it names the Indian pearl mussel.^[2][3] Μάργαρος, Μαργαρίς and Μαργαρώ also served as personal names.^[4]

In 1819 the French chemist Chevreul coined margarique from it, the source of English margaric.^[9]

Timeline

• 1st–6th century AD – The Anacreontea have it for the pearl (GLAUx dates the poem to the 1st century AD, the DGE's author list the collection to the 5th–6th).^[6][8][10]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias uses the plural.^[8][10]
• 6th century AD – Paulus Silentiarius and Procopius use it.^[6][8][10]
• 12th century AD – Tzetzes uses the form μάργαρος (márgaros).^[2][10]
• 1819 – Chevreul's French term margarique is made from it, whence English margaric.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pearl.^{[6][7][11][12]}

Related words

• μαργαρίτης (margarī́tēs)
• μαργαρίς (margarís)
• Latin margarīta
• English margaric

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 j k 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
6. ^ a b c d Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
12. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС