τέρυ

Forms

τέρυ (téru), neuter singular, the form Hesychius glosses.^[1] Beekes and Frisk head the adjective τέρυς.^[2][3] Accusative plural τέρυας, of horses.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *teru- (“tender, weak”).^[2][4][5] Beekes and Frisk compare the related gloss τερύνης (terúnēs) with Avestan tauruna- (“young, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *teru-no-.^[2][3] Beside the two-syllable stem τερυ- (teru-) stands τρυ- (tru-) in τρύω (trū́ō, “to wear out”), and an s-stem may lie in κυκλοτερής (kukloterḗs, “rounded”).^[2][3] Chantraine sees an ancient alternation of stems between τέρυς (térus) and τέρην (térēn, “tender, soft”).^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is known only from Hesychius, who glosses τέρυ as “weak, thin”, and τέρυας ἵππους as horses that eat greedily or, according to others, weak horses.^[1][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Hesychius also records derivatives: τερύνης (terúnēs), a worn-out donkey or an old man past recovery, and the verb τερύσκεται “is ill, wastes away”, with the imperfect τερύσκετο glossed by “was worn down”.^[1][2][6] Chantraine notes that the whole family is attested only in his glosses.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses τέρυ “weak, thin” and its derivatives.^[1][6][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Weak, thin.^[1][7]
2. Of horses (plural): greedy, or weak.^[1][7]

Related words

• τέρην (térēn)
• τρύω (trū́ō)
• τείρω (teírō)
• κυκλοτερής (kukloterḗs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d 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
7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge