πηδόν

Forms

πηδόν (pēdón) n (genitive πηδοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pēd-o- (“sole, footstep”), a thematic form with lengthened grade from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”), the root of πούς (poús).^[2][3][4] The oar blade was named after the foot because of its flat shape and its low position on the oar.^[2][3][5]

It is often compared with Lithuanian pėdà and dialectal pė́das “sole of the foot”, but the Baltic words have an acute long vowel from a short /e/ before /d/ by Winter's law, so Beekes thinks the Greek long vowel was taken from the root noun.^[2][3] NIL sets the same formation for the Lithuanian word in the sense “sheaf” and for Latvian pēda (“handful”).^[4] The verb πηδάω (pēdáō) “to leap” must have been formed before the noun took on its nautical sense.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it means an oar blade, or an oar, in the phrase “to throw up the sea with the oar”.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

After Homer the word stayed in poetry: Apollonius Rhodius has it for oars, and Lycophron uses it in his riddling style.^[6][8] Aratus uses the plural for the rudders, as a short form of πηδάλιον (pēdálion), the derived word for the steering oar.^[6][2] Hesychius also records the spellings πῆδον and πῆδος.^[6]

According to Wiktionary, a Byzantine derivative reshaped as πηδώτης “steersman” was borrowed into Italian as pedota, which was later reshaped as pilota.^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for the blade of an oar.^[6][7]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses the plural for rudders.^[6]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius uses it for oars.^[6][9]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses the plural.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The blade of an oar; hence an oar.^[6][8][7]
2. In the plural, the rudders, the same as πηδάλια (pēdálion).^[6]

Word family

• πηδάλιον (pēdálion)

Related words

• πούς (poús)
• πηδάω (pēdáō)
• πέδον (pédon)

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux