σορός

Forms

σορός (sorós) f (genitive σοροῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tworHos (“seizer, encloser”), an old agent noun of *twerH- (“to enclose”).^[2][1] The same root is in Lithuanian tvérti (“to enclose, fence in, grasp”) and Lithuanian ãptvaras (“fence”), and σορός matches Russian твор (tvor, “creature, form”) exactly, a noun belonging to Russian творить (tvorítʹ, “to create, build”).^[2][3] Beekes and Babiniotis relate it to Ancient Greek σειρά (seirā́, “rope”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer is the first to use it: in the Iliad one urn is to hold the bones of two men.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The Homeric cinerary urn became in Herodotus and Attic comedy a coffin, and later writers speak of coffins of stone.^[4][5] Aristophanes uses the word as a mocking name for an old person, and Lucian has the saying “to have one foot in the coffin”.^[4][2] In Luke's Gospel it is the open bier on which the dead were carried.^[6][4]

Medieval Greek kept the word, which survives as a learned word.^[7] In Modern Greek σορός (sorós) is the formal term for the body of a dead person awaiting burial, the remains.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for an urn holding the bones of the dead.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a coffin.^[4][6][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it as a nickname for an old person.^[4][9]
• 1st century AD – Luke's Gospel uses it for a bier.^[6]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian has the saying about one foot in the coffin.^[4][9]
• Modern Greek – σορός is the formal word for the body of the dead.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cinerary urn.^[4][5]
2. A coffin, sometimes of stone.^[4][5][6]
3. A bier.^[4][6]
4. (comedy) A mocking name for an old man or woman.^[4][2]

Related words

• σειρά (seirā́)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge