ξηρός

Forms

ξηρός (xērós) m (feminine ξηρᾱ́, neuter ξηρόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It may be inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kseros (“dry”),^[1][2] but the long vowel ⟨η⟩, where ⟨ε⟩ would be expected, is a problem.^[2][1] Beekes holds that it can hardly be separated from Homeric ξερόν (xerón, “dry land”).^[2] If both belong with Latin serēnus (“bright, clear, dry”), serēscō (“to become dry”) and Old High German serawēn (“to dry up”), this adjective must have a lengthened grade.^[2] Wiktionary adds Old Armenian չոր (čʻor, “dry”).^[1] The old comparison with Sanskrit क्षार (kṣārá, “sharp, acrid”) is rejected by Mayrhofer.^[2] Alternatively, the Homeric word may be a metathesis of σχερός (skherós), perhaps influenced by this word.^[2][3]

Ancient grammarians derived it from ξέω (xéō, “to scrape”), because wood that is scraped becomes dry (Philoxenus), or from σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”) (Choeroboscus).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first attested in Hipponax.^[5] Heraclitus says that “a dry soul is wisest and best”, and Aeschylus speaks of dry, tearless eyes.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek uses it for whatever is not wet: a dried-up river and dry air in Herodotus, a dry wind in Aristophanes, dry land as against water.^[6][8] It also marks solid as against liquid things: dry and liquid measures in Plato, solid food and cereals, dried fruit, firewood and hay.^[6][8] The feminine noun ἡ ξηρά (hē xērā́), “the dry land”, is found in Apollonius Rhodius, the Septuagint's story of creation and the New Testament, which also speaks of dry wood.^[8][9][5] Coptic borrowed the adjective.^[10]

In medieval Greek the vowel changed, giving the form that survives as Modern Greek ξερός (xerós), the everyday adjective.^[11][3][12] The modern form ξηρός (xirós) is learned, as in the term for dried fruit and nuts and in “dry” wine, a sense modelled on French sec.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – Hipponax uses the word.^[5][13]
• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus speaks of the dry soul, and Aeschylus of dry, tearless eyes.^[3][6][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a dried-up river.^[6][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato distinguishes dry and liquid measures.^[6][13]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses ἡ ξηρά (hē xērā́) for dry land.^[5][8]
• Medieval Greek – The vernacular form ξερός (xerós) appears.^[11][3]
• Modern Greek – ξηρός (xirós) survives as a learned word beside everyday ξερός.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of land, dry, not under water; neuter and feminine as nouns, dry ground, dry land as opposed to the sea.^[8][6][5]
2. Of substances, dry as opposed to liquid; neuter as a noun, dryness.^[8]
3. Of food, dry, solid; neuter plural as a noun, solid food.^[8][6]
4. Not damp; neuter plural as a noun, dry places for storage.^[8]
5. Of eyes, without tears.^[8][6]
6. Of fruit and other foodstuffs, dried; of wood, dry; ξηρὸς χιλός (xēròs khilós), dry fodder, hay.^[8][6]
7. Of measures, for dry goods.^[8][6]

Word family

• ξηρότης (xērótēs)
• ξηραίνω (xēraínō)
• ξηρίον (xēríon)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge