μελῳδός

Forms

μελῳδός (melōidós), adjective of two endings (-ός, -όν); as a noun ὁ μελῳδός (genitive μελῳδοῦ).^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos, “song, tune”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”): the second part is the combining form -ῳδός (-ōidós, “singer”), as in κωμῳδός (kōmōidós) and τραγῳδός (tragōidós).^[3][4] Bailly and the Middle Liddell give the parts as μέλος (mélos) and the verb ᾄδω (áidō, “to sing”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first texts are Euripides' lyric passages, where it is an adjective, “singing, melodious”, said of a swan, a bird and of sounds.^[1][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Plato's Laws it is a noun, a lyric poet who sets songs to music, the same as a μελοποιός (melopoiós).^[1][8][9] The Septuagint has it once, as an adjective, in 4 Maccabees.^[10] Lucian still calls a bird “a singer of laments”.^[8]

In Byzantine Greek the word named a composer of church hymns, and Chæréphon cites Psellus and Tzetzes for this.^[11] Modern Greek μελωδός (melodós) is a learned word: it names the poets who wrote and set to music the hymns of the early Byzantine Church, as in “Romanos the Melodist”, a meaning that goes back to medieval Greek.^[12][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it as an adjective of swans, birds and sounds.^[1][7][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Laws uses it as a noun for a lyric poet and composer.^[1][7][13]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian speaks of a bird as a singer of laments.^[8][13]
• 12th century AD – Tzetzes uses it of a composer of hymns.^[11][13]
• Modern Greek – The learned μελωδός (melodós) names the hymn-writers of the early Byzantine Church.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Musical, melodious, singing.^[1][8][14]

Noun

1. A lyric poet who composes the music of his songs, the same as μελοποιός (melopoiós).^[1][9][3]
2. (Byzantine) A composer of church hymns.^[11][3]

Related words

• μέλος (mélos)
• ᾠδή (ōidḗ)
• ᾄδω (áidō)
• μελῳδία (melōidía)
• Modern Greek μελωδός (melodós)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
3. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
9. ^ a b Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
10. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
14. ^ Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl