στραγγάλη

Forms

στραγγάλη (strangálē) ^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek στράγξ (stránx, “squeezed-out drop”), with the suffix ⟨-άλη⟩ also seen in σκυτάλη (skutálē).^[2][3][4]

For this base noun, cognates are often assumed in Latin stringō (“to draw tight”), Latvian stringt (“to become stiff”), Middle Irish srengim (“to draw, drag”), Old Norse strangr (“hard, rigid”) and Old High German strengi (“stretched, stiff”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“to twist, string”).^[2][3][4][1] The Greek forms then need some analogy: ⟨στραγγ-⟩ would be a blend of a zero grade and an e-grade.^[2][4] Chantraine accepts the comparison,^[3] and Frisk thinks the irregular vowel unsurprising in a word of popular character,^[4] but Beekes, finding the derivation neither straightforward nor semantically evident, thinks it not improbable that the word is Pre-Greek, noting variants without the nasal that may point to prenasalization.^[2]

It is the base of στραγγαλάω (strangaláō, “to choke”), from which come Latin strangulō and, through Old French estrangler, the English word strangle.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Josephus, in the 1st century AD, has it first, in a figurative sense, for a choking anxiety.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Plutarch, to go “to the noose” is to go to execution by strangling, and Sextus Empiricus uses it of the cord itself.^[8][6][9] Its derivatives are older: στραγγαλίς (strangalís) “tangled knot” (Aristotle), στραγγαλάω (strangaláō) “to strangle” (Menander, the Septuagint) and στραγγαλίζω (strangalízō) (Diodorus, Strabo).^[2][4]

Modern Greek uses it as a learned word, taken from the Hellenistic language, for an instrument for executing prisoners by strangling and, in technology, for a kind of clamp;^[10] Πάπυρος adds the nautical sense of a piece of wood twisted to tighten a lashing, and the popular forms στραγγούλα (strangoúla) and στραγούλα (stragoúla).^[11]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Josephus uses it figuratively, for choking anxiety.^[6][7][12]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of the noose of execution.^{[8][6][9][12]}
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus uses it of a cord or noose.^[6][2][12]
• About 1300 – English has strangle, through Old French and Latin from a verb derived from it.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned word στραγγάλη (strangáli) names an instrument of execution by strangling and a kind of clamp.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A noose, halter or cord.^[6][2][1]
2. Strangling, execution by the noose.^[6][8][9]
3. (figurative) Choking anxiety.^[6]

Word family

• στραγγαλάω (strangaláō)
• στραγγαλίζω (strangalízō)
• στραγγαλίς (strangalís)
• στραγγαλιά (strangaliá)

Related words

• στράγξ (stránx)
• στραγγός (strangós)
• Latin strangulō
• English strangle

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
9. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge