Etymologically
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πέρδιξ

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pér.diːks/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈper.ðiks/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈper.ðiks/[1]

Forms

πέρδῑξ (pérdīx) m or f (genitive πέρδῑκος); third declension[1] Cretan πήριξ (pḗrix) (Hesychius), with -ηρ- from -ερδ-.[2][3] The ι is long in Sophocles and Nicophon and short in Archilochus and Epicharmus.[4][5]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, since he takes the suffix -ῑκ- to be a substrate suffix.[2][1]

The traditional explanation, given by Frisk, derives it with the suffix -ικ- from πέρδομαι (pérdomai) “to break wind”, after the whirring sound the bird makes when it takes off.[3] PHILOGLOSSA records this as the traditional view, and Etymonline also traces it to an imitative root.[3][5][6] Frisk rejects a comparison with a Sanskrit word for “snake”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Archilochus, in the 7th century BC.[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Epicharmus, Sophocles, Aristophanes and Xenophon mention it.[4][2] Xenophon pairs quails and partridges, and the proverb πέρδιξ ὄρουσον, “partridge, jump!”, meant “look sharp” (Aristophanes).[4][2] Aristotle discusses it in his zoological works, and a Delian inscription of 278 BC lists it.[5] It appears in the Septuagint in Jeremiah and Sirach.[9]

Medieval Greek used it in similes, for one pursued by a hawk and for a sweet lamenting voice, and figuratively for a young and beautiful woman.[10] It continues as Modern Greek πέρδικα (pérdika).[1][10] It was borrowed as Latin perdīx, which through Old French gave English partridge.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 7th century BC – Archilochus mentions the partridge.[2][7][8]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles and Aristophanes use the word.[4][8]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the bird.[5][8]
  • 278 BC – a Delian inscription lists it.[5]
  • c. 1300 – English partrich, through Latin and Old French.[6]
  • Modern Greek – πέρδικα.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The partridge.[4][7]
  2. (medieval, figurative) A young, beautiful woman.[10]

Word family

  • περδίκιον (perdī́kion)
  • περδικοθήρας (perdīkothḗrās)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr