σκύλαξ

Forms

σκῠ́λᾰξ (skúlax) m or f (genitive σκῠ́λᾰκος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain, and several etymologies have been proposed for this expressive word.^[2][3] It belongs to the many words for young animals in ⟨-αξ⟩, such as μεῖραξ (meîrax), δέλφαξ (délphax) and πόρταξ (pórtax).^[2][4] Within Greek it may go with σκύλιον (skúlion), a kind of shark, the fish name σκύλλα (skúlla), the glosses σκύλλος (skúllos) ‘dog’ and Elean κύλλα (kúlla) ‘puppy’, and perhaps with the name of the sea monster Σκύλλα, “the bitch”.^[2][4]

There are no certain cognates outside Greek.^[2] Meillet compared Old Armenian ցուլ (cʻul, “young bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *skul- or *skōl-, a satisfying comparison except in meaning.^[2][3] Persson compared Lithuanian skalìkas (“barking hunting dog”), from skãlyti (“to bark while hunting”), and kalė̃ (“bitch”).^[3][5] Schwyzer started from the stem of σκύζομαι (skúzomai, “to growl”), which Chantraine does not rule out.^[3] Wiktionary notes that Proto-Indo-European *(s)kol- (“animal”) is possible but problematic, and in view of these difficulties Beekes tentatively considers the word Pre-Greek.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it is a puppy, always feminine in Homer and Hesiod.^[6][7] One simile shows a bitch standing over her tender puppies, κύων ἀμαλῇσι περὶ σκυλάκεσσι βεβῶσα (Od. 20.14).^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

From the 5th century BC it is used for a dog of any age: Herodotus specifies σκύλαξ κυνός, “a dog's whelp”, but Euripides, Plato and Xenophon use it simply for a dog, and Sophocles calls Cerberus the three-headed σκύλαξ of Hades.^[6][8] It also names the young of other animals: Euripides speaks of the young of mountain and sea creatures, Lucian of a bear cub, Nicander of a weasel's young, and a lyric poem of a young dolphin.^[6][8] An epigram calls the grammarians “whelps of Zenodotus”.^[6]

By a play on the word, Plato Comicus uses it for a chain and Polybius for an iron collar on a prisoner's neck.^[6][8][3] Derivatives include the diminutive σκυλάκιον (skulákion) and the verb σκυλακεύω (skulakeúō), used of dogs mating.^[4]

Modern Greek σκύλος (skýlos) ‘dog’ continues Hellenistic σκύλλος (skúllos), a remodelled form of σκύλαξ.^[9][10] σκύλαξ itself survives as a learned word for a puppy.^[11][12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for puppies.^[7][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony.^[6][13][14]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus writes of a dog's whelp, Sophocles calls Cerberus a σκύλαξ, and Euripides uses it for a dog and for the young of other animals.^[6][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it as a masculine for a dog, and Plato Comicus for a chain.^[6][14]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a prisoner's iron collar.^[6][8][14]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it for a bear cub.^[6][14]
• Modern Greek – σκύλος (skýlos), from the Hellenistic remodelling, is the word for a dog.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A young dog, puppy.^[6][8][7]
2. A dog in general; of Cerberus.^[6][8]
3. The young of other animals, whelp, cub; figuratively, of a scholar's pupils.^[6][8]
4. A chain; an iron collar for a prisoner's neck.^[6][8]

Word family

• σκυλάκιον (skulákion)
• σκυλακεύω (skulakeúō)
• σκυλακοτρόφος (skulakotróphos)

Related words

• σκύλλος (skúllos)
• Modern Greek σκύλος (skýlos)

Usage notes

It is also a personal name, borne often by Carians.^[3] Hesychius records it as the name of a sexual position.^[15][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 e f 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
12. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
13. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
14. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
15. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)