πορφύρα

Forms

πορφῠ́ρᾱ (porphúrā) f (genitive πορφῠ́ρᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic πορφύρη (porphúrē).^[2] Mycenaean Greek po-pu-re-ja (feminine plural of an adjective, “purple”), Knossos tablet L 474.^[3]

Etymology

Beekes finds no Indo-European connections and takes it as probably a loanword from a Mediterranean language, perhaps Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek.^[4] Frisk also thinks a borrowing from a Mediterranean language most likely, given the technical nature of the word, although no satisfactory source has been found.^[5] Chantraine thinks it probably came from the Near East, but finds no satisfactory Semitic match;^[6] Babiniotis also suggests the Near East.^[7]

It was traditionally derived from πορφύρω (porphúrō, “to heave, surge (of the sea)”), which is related to φύρω (phúrō, “to mix”).^[1] Frisk finds an original link with this verb unconvincing in substance, but sees later influence of each on the other.^[5]

Linear B already has the adjective Mycenaean Greek po-pu-re-ja, “purple”, of textiles, on a Knossos tablet.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sappho is the first to use it, for the purple dye.^[8][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Whether the word first named the dye or the shellfish it came from is unclear: Frisk thinks the dye, because it is attested first, while Chantraine thinks it plausible that the shellfish came first.^[5][6] The name was used for the murex and other purple shellfish, for the dye, for cloth dyed with it, and for a purple garment or stripe.^[8][2]

In Aeschylus' Agamemnon the purple cloths spread before the king stand for wealth.^[8][2] Polybius calls the broad purple stripe of Roman senators “a broad purple”, the Latin latus clavus.^[8] In the New Testament it is purple cloth and the purple cloak put on Jesus by the soldiers.^[9]

It was borrowed as Latin purpura,^[10][4][5] which gave English purple, French pourpre and German Purpur.^[4][7] In Byzantium purple was the garment of the emperors, and πορφυρογέννητος (porphurogénnētos, “born in the purple”) became a medieval title.^[7] Modern Greek πορφύρα (porfýra) is a learned form of the ancient word.^[11]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it for the purple dye.^[8][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the purple cloths trodden by Agamemnon.^[8][2][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the dye, and Sophocles for the shellfish.^[8][2][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the purple shellfish, and uses the word for purple clothing.^[8][2][12]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the broad purple stripe of the Roman senators.^[8][2][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for purple cloth and for the cloak put on Jesus.^[9]
• Byzantine – Purple is the garment of the emperors, and πορφυρογέννητος (porphurogénnētos) is an imperial title.^[7]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek πορφύρα (porfýra) is a learned form of it.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The purple fish, a shellfish such as the murex.^[8][2]
2. The purple dye obtained from it.^[8][2]
3. Cloth dyed purple; collectively, purple clothing.^[8][2]
4. A purple cloak.^[2][9]
5. A purple stripe or other purple trimming on a garment; the broad purple stripe of the Roman senator.^[8]

Word family

• ἁλιπόρφυρος (halipórphuros)
• ὁλοπόρφυρος (holopórphuros)
• παμπόρφυρος (pampórphuros)
• περιπόρφυρος (peripórphuros)
• πορφύρεος (porphúreos)
• πορφυρεύς (porphureús)
• πορφυρίων (porphuríōn)
• πορφυροειδής (porphuroeidḗs)
• πορφυρόζωνος (porphurózōnos)
• πορφυρόστρωτος (porphuróstrōtos)
• πορφυροῦς (porphuroûs)
• ἐπιπόρφυρος (epipórphuros)
• πλατυπόρφυρος (platupórphuros)
• πορφύρω (porphū́rō)

Related words

• Latin purpura
• English purple

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
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 c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c 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. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge