πίναξ

Forms

πῐ́νᾰξ (pínax) m (genitive πῐ́νᾰκος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes thinks it probably Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, because of its suffix -ακ-, which is productive in technical words such as κάμαξ (kámax, “pole”), κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder”), στύραξ (stúrax) and πύνδαξ (púndax).^[2][3][4]

Since Fick (1890) it has been compared with Slavic words for a tree stump, Old Church Slavonic пьнь (pĭnĭ) and Russian пень (penʹ, “stump, trunk”), and with Sanskrit पिनाक (pínāka, “staff, stick”), which would make it a native Indo-European word.^[1][5][4] Frisk finds the Slavic link quite possible.^[5] Beekes allows that the Slavic words may be related but calls the matching suffix of the Sanskrit word a coincidence.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer already uses it in several senses: the planks of ships in the Odyssey, platters for meat set before guests, and in the Iliad a folding tablet on which a message was written.^[6][7][4]

Semantic evolution

From the flat wooden board the word spread to anything flat that was written or painted on.^[6] Aeschylus has the votive tablet hung on a god's image, Simonides and Plato a painting, Herodotus a bronze plate engraved with a map, and Plato a gold tablet bearing an inscription.^[6][7] In Attic law it was the notice-board and register of names, and Callimachus called his catalogue of Greek authors the Pinakes (“Tables”).^[6][7] Plutarch uses it of the astrologer's board for casting nativities.^[7][6]

The derivative πινακοθήκη (pinakothḗkē) named a picture gallery.^[1] In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke it is a platter or dish.^[8] The Modern Greek πίνακας (pínakas) is a learned form of the word: the school blackboard, a painting, a table of figures and a list, several of these senses modelled on French tableau.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of a folding writing-tablet; the Odyssey of ships' planks and of platters.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a votive tablet, and Simonides of a painting.^[6][7][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a bronze plate engraved with a map.^[6][11]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes refers to the public register of the assembly.^[6][7][11]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus calls his catalogue of authors the Pinakes.^[6][11]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it of a platter.^[8]
• Modern Greek – Its learned form πίνακας means a blackboard, a painting or a table.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A board or plank, as of a ship.^[6][7]
2. A platter or plate for food; a tray.^[6][7][8]
3. A writing-tablet of two folding boards.^[6][7]
4. A votive tablet presented in a temple.^[6][7]
5. A board with a list of names; a register, list or catalogue.^[6][7]
6. A board for painting on; a painting.^[6][7]
7. A plate with something engraved on it, such as a map.^[6][7]
8. A board for astrological tables, used for casting horoscopes.^[6][7]
9. A strop for sharpening knives.^[6]

Word family

• πινακηδόν (pinakēdón)
• πινακίδιον (pinakídion)
• πινάκιον (pinákion)
• πινακίς (pinakís)
• πινακίσκος (pinakískos)
• πινακόγραφος (pinakógraphos)
• πινακοθήκη (pinakothḗkē)
• πινάκωσις (pinákōsis)

Related words

• Modern Greek πίνακας (pínakas)

Usage notes

Plutarch quotes the proverbial phrase “from a picture-board and a gateway”, said of a trivial fiction.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge