στῦλος

Forms

στῦλος (stûlos) m (genitive στῡ́λου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It probably continues Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-u-lo- (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂u-, an enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”) (see ἵστημι (hístēmi)).^[2][1] Beekes compares Avestan stūna- (“pillar”) and its Sanskrit counterpart, formed with a different suffix (*-no- instead of *-lo-).^[2] The same enlarged root is found in στύω (stúō, “to make stiff”), σταυρός (staurós, “stake”) and στοά (stoá, “colonnade”).^[2] Wiktionary adds Lithuanian stulpas (“pillar”) and Albanian shtyllë, and notes that despite its likeness it is unrelated to Latin stilus (“stake, stylus”).^[1]

Philoxenus derived it from the same verb, taken as “to be erect”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the 5th century BC on, in Doric, Ionic and tragedy: Aeschylus' Agamemnon calls a man the “pillar” of the roof, and Herodotus uses it of the columns of a building.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Euripides male children are the “pillars of the house”.^[4][6] It was also a wooden pole or tent pole, and in Polybius the pole of a device for boarding enemy ships.^[4][6] The Septuagint has the “pillar of fire” of Exodus, and Paul's Letter to the Galatians uses it figuratively of persons.^[4][7]

In late Greek it was also used for the Latin stilus, the pointed tool for writing on wax tablets, a use that, according to Galen, Herophilus considered wrong.^[4][2] Modern Greek στύλος (stílos) continues the ancient word for a post or column; its sense “style” is a learned borrowing from French style, from Latin stilus.^[8]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus' Agamemnon uses it figuratively, of the pillar of a house.^[4][5][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the columns of a building, and Euripides for sons as the pillars of the house.^[4][6][9]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the pole of a boarding device.^[4][6][9]
• 1st century AD – Paul's Letter to the Galatians uses it figuratively of persons.^[4][7]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek στύλος (stílos) is a post or column.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pillar or column, especially as a support; figuratively, a pillar of a house or community.^[4][6][7]
2. A wooden pole: a tent pole, a plank; the pole of a ship's boarding device.^[4][6]
3. (late) A stylus for writing on wax tablets.^[4][2]

Word family

• εὔστυλος (eústulos)
• περίστυλον (perístūlon)
• πρόστυλος (próstūlos)
• στυλίτης (stūlī́tēs)
• στυλοβάτης (stūlobátēs)

Related words

• κίων (kī́ōn)
• στοά (stoā́)
• στύω (stúō)
• σταυρός (staurós)
• ἵστημι (hístēmi)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c 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
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