τέταρτος

Forms

τέτᾰρτος (tétartos) m (feminine τετᾰ́ρτη, neuter τέτᾰρτον); first/second declension^[1] Epic τέτρατος, Boeotian πέτρατος.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwr̥-to- (“fourth”), the ordinal of the Indo-European numeral for “four”, which Greek continues as τέσσαρες (téssares).^[4][5][6] The same ordinal is found in Lithuanian ketvir̃tas and in the Tocharian words for “fourth”, beside Latin quārtus.^[4][7]

The Epic form τέτρατος (tétratos) and τέταρτος itself both go back to Proto-Greek *kʷetr̥to-, in which the /w/ of the numeral had been lost before the syllabic /r̥/; van Beek explains this as an early loss of the glide in that position, also seen in the first member of the Mycenaean compound qe-to-ro-po-pi.^[8] He argues that τέταρτος, with ⟨αρ⟩, is the regular vernacular outcome of the syllabic liquid in Ionic-Attic, not a form remade after the cardinal, while the form with ⟨ρα⟩ is virtually confined to epic verse.^[9] Boeotian has πέτρατος (pétratos), with the /p/ that Aeolic dialects have for Indo-European /kʷ/ before /e/.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for “fourth” in the Iliad, and the neuter τὸ τέταρτον as an adverb, “for the fourth time”.^[2][10][11]

Semantic evolution

From the ordinal came several elliptical uses: the feminine, with “day” understood, is the fourth day, already in Hesiod; with “part” understood, a fourth part or quarter.^[2][1] Herodotus uses the feminine for a liquid measure: the Spartan kings received a measure of corn and a tetártē of wine on certain days of the month.^[2][1] Plato uses the neuter without the article as an adverb, “fourthly”.^[2] In the New Testament it is the plain ordinal, and the neuter names “a quarter of the earth” in Revelation.^[12]

Coptic borrowed it as ⲧⲉⲧⲁⲣⲧⲟⲥ (tetartos), recorded in Sahidic texts from about AD 700.^[13] The word survives unchanged as Modern Greek τέταρτος (tétartos).^[14][15]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses τέταρτος and the Epic form τέτρατος for “fourth”.^[2][11][10]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the feminine for the fourth day of the month.^[2][16]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the feminine for a liquid measure.^[2][16]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses the neuter as an adverb, “fourthly”.^[2][16]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses the neuter for a quarter.^[2][16]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it as the ordinal “fourth”.^[12]
• About AD 700 – Sahidic Coptic texts have the borrowing ⲧⲉⲧⲁⲣⲧⲟⲥ (tetartos).^[13]
• Modern Greek – τέταρτος (tétartos) continues it as the ordinal.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fourth.^[2][3]
2. (neuter, as adverb) τὸ τέταρτον, for the fourth time; without the article, fourthly.^[2]
3. (neuter, as noun) A fourth part, a quarter.^[2][12]
4. (feminine, as noun) The fourth day.^[2]
5. (feminine, as noun) A liquid measure; also a measure of weight.^[2]

Related words

• τέσσαρες (téssares)
• τέτρατος (tétratos)
• Latin quārtus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
8. ^ van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. 94–95
9. ^ van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. 95, 268
10. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
16. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge