σκόλοψ

Forms

σκόλοψ (skólops) m (genitive σκολοπός); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variant σκόλοφρον (skólophron, “bench”) with ⟨φ⟩ beside ⟨π⟩ and the suffixes -οπ- and -ρ-.^[2][3] It is often derived from σκάλλω (skállō, “to stir, hoe”), but the formation is peculiar.^[2][4] Chantraine and Frisk take it from the root of that verb and of Latin scalpō (“to scratch, cut”), with Lithuanian sklem̃pti (“to plane”) and other words with a labial, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₃p-, and Chantraine notes that the Greek /o/ is not explained.^[5][6][1][7] Beekes finds this even less likely in form, and Scarborough's database rates the Pre-Greek explanation highly reliable.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is mostly plural, the palisade of stakes set in the ditch before the Achaean wall (7.441), and also the stake on which a head is set up (18.177); the Odyssey (7.45) has walls fitted with stakes.^[9][10][4]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to epic, Ionic and poetry, and later Hellenistic prose, while Attic prose used χάραξ (khárax) and σταυρός (staurós) instead.^[2][5] Herodotus has palisades, and Euripides the stake for impaling.^[10][4] From the 4th century BC it is also a thorn or splinter, as in an inscription from Epidaurus and in the Septuagint, where the Canaanites are to be thorns in Israel's eyes (Numbers 33:55).^[10][11] Paul's “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) belongs here, and Wulfila's Gothic translated σκόλοψ there with Gothic 𐌷𐌽𐌿𐌸𐍉 (hnuþō).^[11][12]

Later it named a surgical instrument and the point of a fishhook.^[10] It survives in Modern Greek as a learned word for a stake and, figuratively, a torment.^[13][14]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the stakes of a palisade.^[9][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes palisades, and Euripides uses it for an impaling stake.^[10][4]
• 4th century BC – An inscription from Epidaurus uses it for a thorn.^[10]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for thorns in the eyes.^[10][11]
• 1st century AD – Paul speaks of a “thorn in the flesh”.^[11]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it for the point of a fishhook.^[10]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for a stake or a torment.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pointed stake; in the plural, a palisade.^[10][4]
2. A stake for impaling.^[10][4]
3. A thorn, a splinter; figuratively, a torment.^[10][11]
4. (medicine) An instrument for operating on the urethra.^[10]
5. The point of a fishhook.^[10]

Word family

• σκολόπιον (skolópion)
• ἀνασκολοπίζω (anaskolopízō)

Related words

• σκάλλω (skállō)
• Latin scalpo

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
8. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
9. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr