παῦρος

Forms

παῦρος (paûros) m (feminine unattested, neuter παῦρον)^[1] A feminine παυράς (paurás) is found in Nicander.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂uros, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”);^[1] Beekes marks the reconstruction with a query.^[2] It matches Latin parvus (“small”), which changed as nervus did beside νεῦρον (neûron).^[3][4] With other suffixes the same root gives paucus (“few”) and paullus (“small, little”), and without a suffix it is seen in Attic παῦς (paûs, “child”).^[2][3] Chantraine calls it a popular root with the vowel a.^[4] Compare also Old English fēaw (“few”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used of people few in number, the comparative of an outnumbered side, and the singular of a small contingent, Nireus' people.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word, the epic, lyric and tragic equivalent of ὀλίγος (olígos), and rare in prose.^[7][8] Hesiod, Pindar and Empedocles use it of a short time or a short life, and Pindar of a brief speech.^[8][4] The neuter plural is used as an adverb, “seldom”.^[7] Corpus counts show it is mostly Homeric and archaic, and rare after the 5th century BC.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of few men and a small people.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of a short time.^[7][8][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of a short word and a brief sleep.^[7][9]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus has it in prose.^[7][9]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses the feminine παυράς (paurás).^[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (plural) Few.^[7][8]
2. Of a people or group: small in number.^[8][5]
3. Small, little; of a thread, thin.^[7][8]
4. Of time: short, brief.^[7][8]
5. (neuter plural, as adverb) Seldom.^[7]

Word family

• παῦρα (paûra)
• παυρίδιος (paurídios)

Related words

• παῖς (paîs)
• Latin parvus
• Latin paucus

Usage notes

Hesychius records the adverb παυράκις “seldom” and an obscure Samothracian gloss παυρακίς, “the fifth”, which Beekes takes as the little finger.^[2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
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 c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)