νάρδος

Forms

νᾰ́ρδος (nárdos) f (genitive νᾰ́ρδου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a Semitic loanword, according to Beekes from Phoenician.^[2][3][4] Related forms are Biblical Hebrew נֵרְדְּ (nērd), Aramaic נִרְדָּא (nirdā) and Akkadian lardu;^[1][2] Chantraine adds that the Akkadian word itself probably came from West Semitic.^[1][2][5] Since the plant comes from India, the Semitic words are thought to go back to Sanskrit नलद (nálada, “Indian nard”), while the old link with नड (naḍá, “reed”) is rejected.^[2][5][1] Rosół also derives the name from a language of the Middle East and notes that the plant grows in Nepal and the Himalaya.^[3] Furnée, cited by Beekes, compares νάρθηξ (nárthēx) and speaks of a Middle Eastern culture word.^[2]

Latin borrowed it as nardus and nardum.^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Theophrastus, in the 4th–3rd century BC, names nard among the aromatics brought from India.^[7][3][8]

Semantic evolution

Theophrastus and Nicander use it of the spikenard plant, and Dioscorides distinguishes Indian, Celtic, mountain and Syrian nard, names that cover several different plants.^[7][5] A papyrus of the 3rd century BC already has it for the costly oil made from the root.^[7][9] The Septuagint uses it three times in the Song of Songs for the Hebrew word.^[4] The Gospels of Mark and John speak of an ointment of nard, which John values at three hundred denarii.^[9][10]

Medieval Greek used it of the plant and of its oil as a medicine.^[11] In Modern Greek νάρδος (nárdos) names the valerian.^[12] The English word nard comes from it through Latin nardus and Old French.^[13]

Timeline

• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus names it among the spices from India.^[7][3][14]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus records oil of nard.^[7][9]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it in the Song of Songs.^[4][8]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides distinguishes several kinds, and the Gospels of Mark and John tell of the anointing with nard.^[7][9][14]
• About 1200 – English borrows nard through Old French and Latin.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Spikenard, the aromatic Indian plant Nardostachys jatamansi.^[7][10][2]
2. Other aromatic plants called nard, such as Celtic nard, a valerian.^[7]
3. Oil or ointment of nard.^[7][9]

Word family

• νάρδινος (nárdinos)

Related words

• Latin nardus
• English nard

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
4. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e 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
10. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge