πῶλος

Forms

πῶλος (pôlos) m or f (genitive πώλου); second declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek po-ro.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pōlH-o-s (“foal, young animal”).^[1][2] Its meaning matches exactly that of the Germanic words for the foal, Proto-Germanic *fulô (“foal”), whence Old High German folo, Old Norse foli and English foal, which have the zero grade *plH-.^[2][3][1] Albanian pelë (“mare”) belongs here too, from *pōl-n-.^[2][3] Wiktionary compares Latin pullus (“young animal”).^[1]

Beekes rejects the connection with παῖς (paîs, “child”) and puer (“boy”) that Frisk allowed, as well as a derivation from the root of πέλομαι (pélomai) (“meadow animal”).^[2][3] The Armenian word for a kid is doubtful as a cognate because its meaning differs.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets have Mycenaean Greek po-ro, “foals”.^[2] Homer uses it for a foal, colt or filly: in the Iliad mares run with foals under them.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Poets use it for horses in general, and as an image for the young: a girl or bride is an unbroken filly (Anacreon, Euripides) and a young man a colt (Aeschylus).^[7][4] Aristotle extended it to the young of other animals, the elephant and the camel.^[4][2] A Corinthian coin with Pegasus was called a πῶλος; in Hellenistic Egypt “sacred foal of Isis” was a priestly title.^[4]

In the New Testament, in Mark's Gospel for example, it is a young donkey.^[8][7][4] Its diminutive πωλάριον (pōlárion) lives on in Modern Greek πουλάρι (poulári, “foal”), with /o/ > /u/ next to /p/ and /l/; learned πώλος (pólos) also exists.^[9]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – Linear B has po-ro, “foals”.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for foals.^[4][5]
• 6th century BC – Anacreon calls a young girl a filly.^[4][7][10]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for young elephants and camels.^[4][10]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it for the colt of a donkey.^[8][4]
• Medieval Greek – The diminutive πουλάρι(ν) appears, from πωλάριον.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A foal, young horse, colt or filly; in poetry, a horse.^[4][7]
2. Any young animal (of elephants, camels, dogs).^[4]
3. (New Testament) A young donkey.^[7][8]
4. (figurative) A young girl; a young man.^[7][4]
5. A Corinthian coin stamped with Pegasus.^[4]
6. A title of priests in Egypt and of a priest of Demeter and Persephone.^[4]

Word family

• ταχύπωλος (takhúpōlos)
• πωλίον (pōlíon)
• πωλάριον (pōlárion)
• πωλικός (pōlikós)
• πωλεύω (pōleúō)
• πωλοδάμνης (pōlodámnēs)

Related words

• English foal
• Latin pullus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge