στρηνής

Forms

στρηνής (strēnḗs), neuter στρηνές; only the neuter is found, used as an adverb.^[1][2] A form στρηνός (strēnós) with the same sense is used by the comic poet Nicostratus.^[1][3]

Etymology

The origin is obscure.^[1] LSJ suggests a link with Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “firm, solid”) and Latin strēnuus (“vigorous, active”).^[2] For Frisk the Latin word fits the sound exactly, and the meaning can be reconciled if the first sense was something like “powerful”, giving “severe, harsh” on the model of adjectives such as ἀπηνής (apēnḗs), or “unbridled force, arrogance” in the noun στρῆνος (strênos).^[3] Chantraine finds the Latin comparison unsatisfying in meaning, and suggests that the noun could belong to the same family as “firm”, formed with the suffix seen in κτῆνος (ktênos) and σκῆνος (skênos).^[1] Frisk also allows a further link with the word for “firm”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first example is in Apollonius of Rhodes, who says that water roars harshly (στρηνὲς) around a rugged shore.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is poetic and almost only post-classical.^[3] It describes rough, harsh sounds above all: in the Greek Anthology an epigram by Antipater has the sea speak harshly, and one by Crinagoras has a trumpet sound piercingly.^[2][1] Chantraine thinks the family of words is old despite its late appearance, and that its general sense was violence, the use for the voice being a narrowing.^[1]

Related words show the same idea of force: στρηνόφωνος (strēnóphōnos) “loud-voiced” in the comic poet Callias, στρηνύζω (strēnúzō) used of the trumpeting of elephants, στρῆνος (strênos) “insolence, luxury” in the Septuagint and the Revelation, and στρηνιάω (strēniáō) “to live wantonly”.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The comic poet Callias uses the compound στρηνόφωνος (strēnóphōnos), “loud-voiced”.^[1][5]
• 4th century BC – The comic poet Nicostratus uses the parallel form στρηνός (strēnós).^[1][5]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses the neuter στρηνές of water roaring on a rugged shore.^[2][4][5]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Crinagoras uses it of a trumpet sounding shrilly.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Rough, harsh, shrill, especially of sounds; in the neuter as an adverb, harshly, piercingly.^[2][1][3]

Related words

• στρῆνος (strênos)
• στρηνιάω (strēniáō)
• στρηνός (strēnós)
• στρηνόφωνος (strēnóphōnos)
• στρηνύζω (strēnúzō)
• στερεός (stereós)
• Latin strēnuus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
2. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge