πολύγωνον

Forms

πολύγωνον (polúgōnon) n (genitive πολῠγώνου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The neuter of the adjective from Ancient Greek πολύγωνος (polúgōnos, “polygonal, many-angled”), used as a noun.^[1][2][3] The adjective is a compound from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) + γωνία (gōnía, “angle”).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Antiphon the Sophist, in the 5th century BC, already uses the noun for a polygon;^[2][3] the adjective “many-angled” appears in Aristotle's On Sense and Sensibles.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It became a standard term of geometry: almost all its occurrences in the GLAUx corpus are in Archimedes, who inscribes polygons in circles and spheres.^[5] Plutarch uses the adjective, and Galen the noun.^[2][4]

It continues as the learned Modern Greek πολύγωνο (polýgono), a plane figure with many angles and sides.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Antiphon the Sophist uses the noun for a polygon.^[2][3]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle calls shapes “many-angled” with the adjective.^[2][5]
• 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses the noun constantly in his works on the sphere, the circle and spirals.^[5]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses the noun.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned πολύγωνο is the geometric term.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) A polygon.^[2][1][6]

Related words

• πολύγωνος (polúgōnos)
• γωνία (gōnía)
• Latin polygonum

Usage notes

The plant knotgrass is properly πολύγονον (polúgonon) in Dioscorides,^[2] but the spelling πολύγωνον is found for it too: the New Pauly writes it so, Kriaras refers that spelling to πολύγονον, and Latin polygonum is listed as a borrowing of it.^[7][8][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann