πηλός

Forms

πηλός (pēlós) m or f (genitive πηλοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][1] Beekes finds no convincing etymology and asks whether it is Pre-Greek,^[2] but Wiktionary notes that there is no particular evidence for this.^[1] Babiniotis rejects the old connection with Latin palus (“marsh”) and palleō (“to be pale”).^[3] Doric has πᾱλός (pālós).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 6th–5th century BC, when Heraclitus and Aeschylus use it for mud.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus, Thucydides and Aristophanes use it for the clay of masons and potters, and Aristophanes and Callimachus for the clay from which humans were made.^[4][5] It also meant the mud of roads and marshes, and Aeschylus used it in an image of getting one's foot out of the mire.^[4][5] Sophocles used it for thick, muddy wine, and a comic poet for a blockhead.^[4] From it Attic formed προπηλακίζω (propēlakízō), literally to trample in the mud, that is to insult.^[2]

The Septuagint uses it for clay and for mud,^[8] and in the New Testament the potter's clay is an image of humans in the hands of God.^[9] A feminine form, recorded for Syracuse, is found in later Greek, and the plural πηλά (pilá) is still popular.^[10][4] The word survives as Modern Greek πηλός (pilós), the potter's clay and a builder's mortar of earth and water.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus and Aeschylus use it for mud.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for the clay of masons and potters.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for thick, muddy wine.^[4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes speaks of it as the stuff humans were made from.^[5]
• 4th–5th century AD – Eunapius records the saying “thicker than mud” of a dullard.^[4]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek πηλός (pilós) means potter's clay and a mortar of earth and water.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Clay, earth used by masons and potters.^[4][5]
2. Mud, mire; figuratively, the mire of ruin.^[4][5]
3. (poetic) Thick, muddy wine, lees; wine spilt on the floor.^[4]
4. (comedy) A dolt, blockhead.^[4]

Word family

• πήλινος (pḗlinos)
• πηλώδης (pēlṓdēs)
• πηλαῖος (pēlaîos)
• πηλάριον (pēlárion)
• πηλόω (pēlóō)
• προπηλακίζω (propēlakízō)

Usage notes

Two proverbs use it: “to bring one's foot out of the mud”, for getting out of trouble, in Aeschylus, and “thicker than mud”, of a dullard, in Eunapius.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki