τέρας

Forms

τέρᾰς (téras) n (genitive τέρᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an archaic neuter in -ας (-as), like κτέρας (ktéras), σέλας (sélas) and βρέτας (brétas).^[2][3] Its origin is uncertain.^[2][1] Beekes and Chantraine connect it with πέλωρ (pélōr, “monster”) and its variant τέλωρ (télōr), if these come from *kʷer-ōr by dissimilation of the two /r/, with the neuter ending substituted for the suffix.^[2][3] Beekes adds that these words may go back to the root Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to make, perform (magic)”) seen in Lithuanian kẽras (“magic, sorcery”), Russian чары (čáry, “magic”) and Sanskrit करोति (karóti, “makes”), which would mean that the suffix was added within Greek.^[2] Wiktionary suggests the participle stem *kʷern̥t- of the same root.^[1]

An older proposal linked the Homeric plural τείρεα (teírea, “stars”) with the Indo-European word for “star”, but Chantraine rejects it because the sense “star” seems secondary.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.^[4] In the Iliad it is a sign sent by a god, such as the snake that devours the sparrows at Aulis, and it is also used of the Gorgon's head on the aegis.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Homer the word means a portent sent by Zeus, and in the plural the signs in the sky, the stars.^[5][3] From “portent” it came to mean any marvel, and, with a negative colouring, a monster: the Gorgon's head, Cerberus and other mythical creatures, and a deformed birth.^[5][3] Plato uses it for an astonishing statement.^[5][3] In the Hellenistic period it took a dental stem, genitive τέρατος (tératos).^[3]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament it appears only in the plural and together with σημεῖον (sēmeîon), in the phrase “signs and wonders”.^[6] The Modern Greek word τέρας (téras) continues the ancient word for a monstrous being or deformed creature; the sense “a prodigy, an extraordinary person” is learned, after French monstre.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a sign sent by a god and for the Gorgon's head.^[5][3][4]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of a monstrous sight in the underworld.^[5][4][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus calls winter thunder a portent.^[3][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for an astonishing statement and for a deformed birth.^[5][8]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius has the genitive plural τεράτων (terátōn) with a dental stem.^[5][8]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it only in the phrase “signs and wonders”.^[6]
• Modern Greek – It means a monster, and as a learned sense a prodigy, after the French word.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign from a god, a portent, omen.^[5][9]
2. (plural) The signs in the sky: the stars or constellations.^[5][3]
3. A marvel, wonder.^[5][6]
4. A monster, monstrous sight or creature; a deformed birth.^[5][9]
5. An astonishing situation or statement.^[5]

Word family

• τερατεύομαι (terateúomai)
• τερατολόγος (teratológos)
• τεράζω (terázō)
• τέρασμα (térasma)
• τεράστιος (terástios)

Related words

• πέλωρ (pélōr)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 k 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 Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press