πελιός

Forms

πελῐός (peliós) m (feminine πελῐᾱ́, neuter πελῐόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably an adjective with a w-suffix built on an i-stem inherited from Proto-Indo-European *peli- (“pale, grey”), which is also seen in Sanskrit पलित (palitá, “grey”).^[2][3][1] Chantraine puts all these words under a root Proto-Indo-European *pel- / *pol- for an indefinite, greyish colour, the same that gives πολιός (poliós, “grey”) and πέλεια (péleia, “dove”), and that explains the many uses and the varied glosses of the ancient lexicographers.^[4] Close relatives are πελιδνός (pelidnós) and πελιτνός (pelitnós), which the grammarians call the Attic form, and perhaps πελλός (pellós, “dark-coloured”).^[2][4]

Wiktionary adds Latin pallidus (“pale”) and Old Armenian ալիք (alikʻ, “wave; grey hair”) as cognates.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Hippocratic writings: Diseases II names a “livid” disease, and in the Prognostic the word is a later interpolation.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In medical Greek it is the colour of skin discoloured by blood under it, black and blue,^[5][7] and Demosthenes uses it of bruises.^[5][7][4] Theophrastus uses it more generally of a dark, dull colour.^[5] The grammarian Herodian equates it with πολιός, “grey”.^[5] Its derivatives, such as πελιόομαι (pelióomai) “to become livid”, remained medical words.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Diseases uses it of a disease that makes the body livid.^[5][8]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of bruises.^[5][7][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it of a dull colour.^[5][8]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it in his poem on venomous animals.^[5][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the body, livid, discoloured by blood under the skin, black and blue, bruised.^[5][7]
2. Generally, dark, dull in colour.^[5]
3. Grey, the same as πολιός (poliós).^[5]

Word family

• πελιαίνομαι (peliaínomai)

Related words

• πελιδνόομαι (pelidnóomai)
• πελιδνός (pelidnós)
• πελίδνωμα (pelídnōma)
• πελιτνός (pelitnós)
• πελλός (pellós)
• πέλλος (péllos)
• πολιός (poliós)
• πέλεια (péleia)
• Latin pallidus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d 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