πόρος

Forms

πόρος (póros) m (genitive πόρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *por-o-, an action noun with the o-grade of Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to cross, pass”), the root of πείρω (peírō, “to pierce, run through”).^[2][3][1] The old meaning of the root, “to carry over, ferry over”, still shows in πόρος and in πορθμός (porthmós, “ferry, strait”).^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit पिपर्ति (píparti, “brings across”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽 (faran, “to wander”) and 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (farjan, “to ferry over”), and with Latin portō (“to carry”), a denominative verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is a place where a river can be crossed, a ford: the Iliad names Thryon, “the ford of the Alpheus”.^[4][5] The Odyssey calls the sea “the paths of the sea”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

From the ford the word spread to the stream itself, in Hesiod, Pindar and tragedy, and to a stretch of sea that can be crossed, a strait: Hesiod speaks of the strait of Ocean.^[6][5] Herodotus uses it for a bridge, and inscriptions for an aqueduct.^[5] More generally it is any way or path, and Xenophon uses it for the track of a wild beast.^[5]

The philosophers and doctors used it for the passages through a porous body: Epicurus for the pores of the skin, Aristotle for the ducts of the body, and a dialogue of the Platonic corpus for the passages from the senses to the brain.^[5] In another direction it became a way or means of doing something, as in Herodotus, a resource, opposed to ἀπορία (aporíā, “lack of means”) by Plato, a device in Aeschylus, and a way of raising money, revenue, in Xenophon and Demosthenes.^[5][6][2]

Through Latin porus and Old French it gave English pore (late 14th century).^[7] Modern Greek πόρος (póros) is a learned borrowing of the ancient word;^[8] Tsakonian πόρε (póre) continues it.^[8][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a ford of the Alpheus.^[4][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of the strait of Ocean.^[5][6][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a bridge and for a means of finding something out.^[5][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts it as “resource” with ἀπορία, and Xenophon uses it for revenue.^[5][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the ducts of the body.^[5][9]
• Late 14th century – English pore appears, through Latin porus.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ford, a place where a river can be crossed; a ferry.^[5][6][4]
2. A stream, the channel of a river.^[6]
3. A strait.^[5][6] (poetic) the paths of the sea, the sea.^[5][6]
4. A bridge; an aqueduct.^[5]
5. A way, path; the track of an animal.^[5]
6. A passage in a porous body, a pore; a duct of the body.^[5]
7. A way or means of doing something; a resource, device.^[5][6]
8. A way of raising money.^[5] (plural) revenue, earnings.^[5][2]

Word family

• ἄπορος (áporos)
• δύσπορος (dúsporos)
• ἔμπορος (émporos)
• εὔπορος (eúporos)
• εὐρύπορος (eurúporos)
• ὠκύπορος (ōkúporos)
• πεζοπόρος (pezopóros)
• πορεύω (poreúō)
• πορίζω (porízō)
• πορθμός (porthmós)
• ἀπορέω (aporéō)

Related words

• πείρω (peírō)
• περάω (peráō)
• Latin porus
• English pore

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge