τέγος

Forms

τέγος (tégos) n (genitive τέγους or τέγεος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *(s)tégos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tégos, from *(s)teg- (“to cover”), a root with s-mobile;^[1][2] beside it Greek has the form with s, στέγος (stégos, “roof, house”), and the verb στέγω (stégō, “to cover”).^[3][2][4] The neuter s-stem corresponds to Old Irish teg (“house”);^[2][4] other cognates are Latin tegō (“to cover”), Old Norse þak (“roof”) and Lithuanian stógas (“roof”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Odyssey on, never in the Iliad: the poem uses it for the roof of a house (1.333) and tells of a fall from a roof (10.559, 11.64).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Attic it is the flat roof of a house, a place to stand or sleep on: Aristophanes has “you up on the roof!” and Thucydides and Lysias use it in the same way.^[5][3] Pindar uses it for a roofed building, the temple at Delphi, and for a cave.^[5][3] In Hellenistic and later Greek it meant a brothel (Polybius, the Palatine Anthology).^[5][3] It is not found in tragedy,^[5] which uses στέγος (stégos).^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it for the roof of a house.^[5][6]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for a roofed chamber of the temple at Delphi.^[5][3]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides and Aristophanes use it for a flat roof.^[5][3][7]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for a brothel.^[5][3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A roof, especially the flat roof of a house.^[3][5]
2. A roofed building or chamber; of a cave.^[3][5]
3. (Hellenistic) A brothel.^[3][5]

Related words

• στέγος (stégos)
• στέγω (stégō)
• στέγη (stégē)
• Latin tegō
• English thatch

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 d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge