Etymologically
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σάπφειρος

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sápʰ.pʰeː.ros/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈsap.ɸi.ros/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈsap.fi.ros/[1]

Forms

σᾰ́πφειρος (sáppheiros) f (genitive σᾰπφείρου); second declension[1] Medieval also σάμφειρος (8th–10th century) and σάφειρος, masculine.[2][3]

Etymology

It is certainly related to a Semitic word, probably borrowed from Hebrew סַפִּיר (sappîr) or a similar West Semitic form.[4][5][6][1] Wiktionary traces this further to Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis lazuli”).[1] Beekes notes that the Semitic word was probably itself borrowed, and that the -πφ- and -ειρος of the Greek could point to Pre-Greek origin.[4] LSJ and the OED also doubt that it is Semitic in the end.[4][7][8] A link with Sanskrit śanipriya-, a dark stone, is very doubtful.[5][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Theophrastus, in his work on stones, describes two kinds, a blue one and a “golden” one.[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In antiquity the stone was lapis lazuli, not the modern sapphire.[7][5][3] The Septuagint uses it for Hebrew sappîr, and Josephus mentions it.[6][7]

Medieval writers list sapphires among the gems on an emperor's sword and in the decoration of churches.[2] Through Latin sapphirus it reached the European languages, as English sapphire (mid-13th century, through Old French saphir).[4][8] Modern Greek has the learned σάπφειρος (sápfiros) and the everyday ζαφείρι.[9][2]

Timeline

  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus describes the stone.[7][4][10]
  • 8th–10th century – the form σάμφειρος.[2]
  • Mid-13th century – English sapphire.[8]
  • Modern Greek – σάπφειρος (learned), ζαφείρι.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. lapis lazuli.[7][4]
  2. (later) sapphire.[2][3]

Word family

  • σαπφείρινος (sappheírinos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  3. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ a b Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
  7. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge