σταυρός

Forms

σταυρός (staurós) m (genitive σταυροῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂u-rós (“pole”),^[2][1] from the root *steh₂- (“to stand”), which is also that of ἵστημι (hístēmi).^[1][3] It is identical with Old Norse staurr (“pole”), and the same base probably underlies Latin īnstaurō (“to renew, restore”).^[2] Cognate with Icelandic staur and English stour, “stake, pole”.^[1] Beekes connects it further with στοά (stoá), στῦλος (stûlos) and στύω (stúō).^[2]

Ancient writers had their own explanations: Hesychius derives the word from posts that “stand” in the “breeze”, αὔρα (aúra), and Anastasius Sinaita from στάσις (stásis) and εὖρος (eûros) “width”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is an upright stake or pale: the Odyssey describes a yard fenced with close-set stakes, and the Iliad a fence of stakes round a dwelling.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Thucydides and Xenophon use it in the plural for a palisade, and Herodotus and Thucydides for piles driven in as a foundation or to protect ships in a harbour.^[5][6] Plutarch uses it of the stake on which a body was impaled.^[5][6]

From Hellenistic times it named the cross of crucifixion, in Diodorus, Polybius and Plutarch;^[5][6][8] Triantafyllidis regards this as a sense taken from Latin crux.^[9] In the New Testament it is the cross of Jesus, and “to take up one's cross” means to accept suffering willingly.^[10][5][6] Lucian notes that its shape was that of the letter T.^[5] The verb σταυρόω (stauróō) “to crucify” and the noun σταύρωσις (staúrōsis) were formed from it.^[10]

Modern Greek σταυρός (stavrós) continues the Hellenistic sense, the cross.^[9][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for upright stakes.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for piles supporting a platform, and Thucydides for a palisade.^[5][6][12]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the cross of crucifixion.^[6][12]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it for the cross.^[5][8][12]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the cross of Jesus and, figuratively, for voluntary suffering.^[10][5]
• Modern Greek – σταυρός means “cross”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An upright stake or pale; in the plural, a palisade.^[5][6]
2. A pile driven into the ground or the sea bed as a foundation or protection.^[5][6]
3. A stake for impaling a body.^[5][6]
4. (Hellenistic, New Testament) A cross, as the instrument of crucifixion.^[5][6][10]
5. (New Testament, figurative) Suffering accepted willingly.^[10][6]

Word family

• ἀνασταυρόω (anastauróō)
• ἀποσταυρόω (apostauróō)
• περισταυρόω (peristauróō)
• σταυρόω (stauróō)
• σταύρωμα (staúrōma)
• σταύρωσις (staúrōsis)
• συσταυρόομαι (sustauróomai)
• διασταυρόω (diastauróō)

Related words

• στῦλος (stûlos)
• στοά (stoá)
• ἵστημι (hístēmi)
• Latin īnstaurō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge