σάνδαλον

Forms

σάνδᾰλον (sándalon) n (genitive σανδάλου); second declension^[1] Aeolic σάμβαλον (sámbalon).^[2][3]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: the initial /s/, the alternation of ⟨νδ⟩ with ⟨μβ⟩ in the Aeolic form σάμβαλον (sámbalon) and the suffix ⟨-αλ-⟩ point to the Pre-Greek substrate.^[4][5] He compares κορίανδρον (koríandron) beside κορίαμβλον (koríamblon), which may also be different adaptations of a foreign word, as Schwyzer had already suggested for the sandal.^[4][6]

Chantraine too sees parallel borrowings, perhaps from the East, and finds no basis for the comparison with the late σαγγάριος (sangários) and τζαγγάριος (tzangários, “maker of Parthian boots”),^[7] and Frisk calls the origin unknown.^[7][6] Bailly's dictionary of 1901 traced it to a Persian word for “shoe”, but Frisk and Beekes take the Persian word, like Latin sandalium and French sandale, as a borrowing from Greek.^[8][6][4] Wiktionary compares Middle Persian čandal (“sandalwood”), from Sanskrit चन्दन (candana).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, in the plural, meaning sandals.^[2][4][9] The Aeolic form σάμβαλον is used by Eumelus and Sappho.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word was mostly used in the plural.^[2] In Ionic and Attic the diminutive σανδάλιον (sandálion) was also common, from Herodotus on, and Aristophanes has σανδαλίσκον.^[7][4] Menander and Delian inscriptions name a sandal case σανδαλοθήκη (sandalothḗkē), and Herodas a sandal chest σαμβαλούχη.^[4][7] By resemblance the word named a flatfish in Matro.^[2][4] Hesychius equates σανδάλιον with the ψῆττα (psêtta), but Alciphron keeps them apart.^[2][4] A papyrus of the 1st–2nd century AD uses the plural for iron runners under a sledge (χαμουλκός (khamoulkós)) on which stone was hauled from the quarry.^[10] In the magical papyri the sandal is a symbol of Hecate.^[11]

Latin borrowed the diminutive as Latin sandalium, whence French sandale and English sandal.^[6][12][13] The Modern Greek word for a sandal, Modern Greek σανδάλι (sandáli), is a learned form of σανδάλιον.^[14]

Timeline

• 8th–7th century BC – Eumelus uses the Aeolic form σάμβαλον (sámbalon).^[2][4][15]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses σάμβαλον.^[2][3][15]
• 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Hermes has the plural for sandals, and Hipponax the diminutive σαμβαλίσκα (sambalíska).^{[9][2][4][15]}
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the diminutive σανδάλιον (sandálion), and Eupolis the singular.^[7][2][15]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Menander has the compound σανδαλοθήκη (sandalothḗkē), “sandal case”.^[4][7][15]
• 3rd century BC – Herodas has σαμβαλούχη (sambaloúkhē), “sandal chest”.^[4][7][15]
• 1st–2nd century AD – A papyrus uses the plural for the iron runners of a sledge.^[10]
• Late 14th century – English takes sandal from Old French and Medieval Latin, which go back to the Greek diminutive.^[13]
• Modern Greek – The learned σανδάλι (sandáli) is the word for a sandal.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sandal; mostly in the plural, sandals.^[2][3]
2. A flatfish.^[2][4]
3. (papyri, plural) Iron runners under a sledge for hauling stone.^[10]

Word family

• ἀσάνδαλος (asándalos)
• σανδάλιον (sandálion)
• σανδαλοθήκη (sandalothḗkē)
• ὑποσάνδαλος (huposándalos)

Related words

• σάμβαλον (sámbalon)
• Latin sandalium
• French sandale
• English sandal

Usage notes

It should not be confused with Late Greek σάνταλον (sántalon), “sandalwood”, the medieval σάνταλο(ν), which Babiniotis keeps apart from it,^[12][16] and Etymonline traces that word to Sanskrit.^[12][16][13]

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 l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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
8. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1901), Abrégé du dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
11. ^ Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
12. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
13. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
16. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr