παλαίστρα

Forms

πᾰλαίστρᾱ (palaístrā) f (genitive πᾰλαίστρᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic παλαίστρη (palaístrē).^[2]

Etymology

It is a place noun from Ancient Greek παλαίω (palaíō, “to wrestle”) with the suffix -τρα (-tra).^[3][4][5] The origin of the verb is uncertain: Beekes discusses a link with πάλλω (pállō, “to swing, shake”), which does not explain the form of the verb, and one with πίλναμαι (pílnamai, “to approach”), which he finds hypothetical.^[6] Chantraine calls the verb a technical term of unclear formation.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest texts that have it are of the 5th century BC: Herodotus tells how a ruler had a racecourse and a wrestling school made for his daughter's suitors, and Bacchylides speaks of the “palaestra” of Cercyon, the place where he killed those he wrestled with.^[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The palaestra was a school for wrestling and other exercise, an enclosed court surrounded by rooms, like a γυμνάσιον (gumnásion) but smaller.^[2][8] It took shape in the 6th century BC as the core of the gymnasium, with rooms for exercise, changing and storing equipment.^[9] From the 5th century BC on, palaestrae stood in the centre of cities.^[9] Older scholarship held that the palaestrae were mostly private schools for boys, while grown men exercised in the gymnasia.^[8] Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato and Xenophon mention it, and in Theophrastus palaestrae are hired out for performances by sophists and musicians.^[3][2]

Plutarch and the treatise On the Sublime use it figuratively for a school of training (“the palaestra of Socrates”).^[3][2] In 2 Maccabees it stands for the whole gymnasium.^[10] It passed into Latin as palaestra.^[11][9]

In medieval vernacular Greek it meant wrestling or a wrestling contest.^[12] Modern Greek παλαίστρα (paléstra) is a learned revival for a place where wrestlers train and compete, and figuratively for an arena of political or social struggle.^[13]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Bacchylides use it, and Euripides has it in the plural.^[7][3][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and Xenophon name the palaestra among the places where boys are educated.^[3][14]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus mentions palaestrae hired out for public performances.^[2][14]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it figuratively for a school of training.^[3][2][14]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias uses it of the place of Cercyon.^[3][14]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for wrestling and wrestling contests.^[12]
• Modern Greek – παλαίστρα (paléstra) is a learned word for a wrestling ground and an arena of struggle.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A palaestra, a wrestling school.^[3][2]
2. (mythology) The place where Cercyon forced passers-by to wrestle with him.^[3][2]
3. (figurative) A school or training ground.^[3][2]

Word family

• παλαιστρικός (palaistrikós)
• παλαιστροφύλαξ (palaistrophúlax)

Related words

• πάλη (pálē)
• παλαιστής (palaistḗs)
• Latin palaestra

Usage notes

Hesychius explains it as the place where boys are anointed with oil.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b 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. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
15. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)