πυγμή

Forms

πῠγμή (pugmḗ) f (genitive πυγμῆς); first declension^[1] Dialectal πυγμά (pugmā́).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πύξ (púx, “with the fist”) + -μή (-mḗ), with the suffix of στιγμή (stigmḗ), δραχμή (drakhmḗ) and ἀκμή (akmḗ).^[3][4][5] Beekes notes that the stem may be either verbal or nominal.^[4]

The only clear cognates are Latin pugnus (“fist”) and pugil (“boxer”), which give a Latin and Greek element meaning “fist”.^[4][3] Since Fick it has been joined to pungō (“to prick”), the fist being “the one that stabs”.^[4][3] Beekes finds the meaning surprising but takes pūgiō (“dagger”) as a good argument for it.^[4][3] Wiktionary and Pokorny give the root as Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to punch, to stick”).^[1][6] N. Van Brock instead linked πύξ (púx) with a root meaning “all, together”, as in πᾶς (pâs) and πέντε (pénte).^[3]

Ancient grammarians derived it from πτύσσω (ptússō, “to fold”), through a form without the τ.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Iliad uses it for boxing as a contest: a hero offers a mule to whoever wins “at the fist” in the funeral games.^[8][5][9]

Semantic evolution

Boxing remained its chief sense in Pindar's victory odes, in Plato and in inscriptions that list victors.^[8][2] From Hippocrates and Euripides on it also means the fist itself, and Euripides' Cyclops uses the plural for drunken fist-fights.^[8][2] Theophrastus and Pollux use it as a measure of length, from the elbow to the knuckles, eighteen finger-breadths.^[8][4][3]

The Septuagint uses it of striking with the fist.^[10][8] In Mark's Gospel the phrase “unless they wash their hands with the fist” is obscure; it was interpreted as “diligently”, and some manuscripts read πυκνά (pukná) “often” instead.^[8][11] Later writers use it more generally of a fight, between gladiators and beasts or between partridges.^[8]

Medieval Greek kept it with other senses.^[12] In Modern Greek it is a learned word for the fist and, figuratively, for firmness and resolve.^[13][5]

Timeline

• 700s BC – The Iliad uses it for boxing as an athletic contest.^[8][9]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it in his odes for boxing victories.^[8][2][14]
• 5th century BC – Hippocrates and Euripides use it for the fist.^[8][2][14]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it as a measure of length from the elbow to the knuckles.^[8][14]
• 1st century AD – Josephus quotes an edict that uses it for fights of gladiators and beasts.^[8][14]
• Modern Greek – The learned πυγμή (pygmí) means the fist and, figuratively, firmness.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The fist.^[8][2][11]
2. Boxing, as an athletic contest; in the plural, fist-fighting.^[8][2]
3. (later) A fight in general.^[8]
4. A measure of length, from the elbow to the knuckles, 18 finger-breadths.^[8][4]

Word family

• πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos)

Related words

• πυγών (pugṓn)
• πυκτεύω (pukteúō)
• πύκτης (púktēs)
• πύξ (púx)
• πυγμάχος (pugmákhos)
• πυγμαχία (pugmakhía)
• πυγμαχέω (pugmakhéō)
• Latin pugnus
• Latin pugil

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 e f g 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge