Etymologically
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πεύκη

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pěu̯.kɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈpeɸ.ci/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈpef.ci/[1]

Forms

πεύκη (peúkē) f (genitive πεύκης); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péu̯k̑-ah₂-, a formation that the NIL lists under the root noun *pewḱ- (“conifer, pine”).[2][1] Beekes and Chantraine take it as an adjective made a noun, *πευκός (*peukós, “sharp, prickly”), so that the pine is “the tree that pricks”, as λεύκη (leúkē, “white poplar”) stands beside λευκός (leukós, “white”).[3][4][5] LSJ suggests it first meant “needle-tree”.[6] The same base is in ἐχεπευκής (ekhepeukḗs, “sharp, piercing”) and in the Homeric adjectives πευκάλιμος (peukálimos, “sharp, shrewd”) and πευκεδανός (peukedanós, “bitter, piercing”).[4][3]

Related names of the pine and spruce are Old Prussian peuse, Lithuanian pušìs, Old High German fiuhta (“spruce”) and Middle Irish ochtach.[4][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is the pine tree (11.494), and also a piece of felled pinewood (23.328).[7][6]

Semantic evolution

LSJ identifies it chiefly as the Corsican pine, while Chantraine takes it as the stone pine, distinct from the ἐλάτη (elátē, “fir”) and the πίτυς (pítus, “pine”).[6][3] Theophrastus also separates it from the pítus and names several kinds.[6] In tragedy it is a pine torch, and by metonymy anything of pinewood: Euripides uses it for a writing tablet, for the Trojan Horse and for a ship.[6][8][5] The Septuagint has it once, in Isaiah.[9]

In Modern Greek the learned πεύκη (péfki) is the botanical name and also means pine timber, while the everyday word is πεύκο (péfko), with its ending changed after the word for “tree”.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for the pine tree and for pinewood.[7][6]
  • Before the 6th century BC – The Hesiodic Shield uses it for pine trees.[11][8][12]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for a pine torch.[6][8][12]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for a wooden writing tablet.[6][8][12]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus distinguishes it from the πίτυς and names several kinds.[6][12]
  • 2nd century AD – Zenobius records the proverb “like a pine”, of utter destruction.[6][12]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as the learned πεύκη beside the everyday πεύκο (péfko).[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The pine tree, especially the Corsican pine.[6][8][4]
  2. Pinewood, pine timber.[8]
  3. A pine torch.[6][8]
  4. Something made of pinewood: a writing tablet; in poetry a ship, an oar, the Trojan Horse.[6][8]

Word family

  • πεύκινος (peúkinos)
  • πευκάλιμος (peukálimos)
  • πευκεδανός (peukedanós)
  • ἐχεπευκής (ekhepeukḗs)

Usage notes

The paroemiographer Zenobius records the proverb “like a pine”, said of utter destruction.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
  3. ^ a b c d 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
  4. ^ a b c d 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
  5. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  12. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge