ταώς

Forms

τᾰώς (taṓs) m (genitive τᾰώ); second declension^[1] The declension wavers between an o-stem and an n-stem: ταώς and ταών (taṓn), genitive ταῶ and ταῶνος (taônos).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a borrowing from an unknown Eastern language, made in parallel with Latin pāvō (“peacock”) and pāvus.^[4][3][5] The bird came to Greece from India by way of Persia.^[3][6] Frisk asks whether Tamil தோகை (tōkai, “peacock”) is the source, and LSJ suggests that a Hebrew word for peacocks may come from the same Eastern origin.^[5][1][2] Wiktionary reconstructs an earlier *ταϝώς (*tawṓs).^[1]

According to the grammarian Trypho the Athenians pronounced it ταὧς (taôs), with a rough breathing on the last syllable.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Old Comedy: Aristophanes' Acharnians and Birds and Eupolis use it for the peacock.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Peacocks were a show in 5th-century BC Athens: according to Plutarch people paid to see those kept in the enclosure of Pyrilampes and Demus, and on Samos the bird was sacred to Hera.^[8] Comedy used it of vain, showy men, as Lucian did later.^[2] Aristotle describes the bird in his zoology, and it also became the name of a gem and of a brightly coloured fish.^[2][4][3]

The Latin word passed into Old High German as pfāwo and into other European languages.^[4] The Coptic loanword ⲧⲁⲱⲥ (taōs) is first recorded in a manuscript of about AD 700.^[9]

The everyday Modern Greek word is παγώνι (pagóni), from medieval παώνι, a diminutive of Hellenistic πάων (páōn), which was borrowed from Latin.^[10] Ταώς survives as a learned name, that of the southern constellation Pavo.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Aristophanes and Eupolis name the peacock and use it of vain men.^[2][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the bird in the History of Animals.^[2][7]
• 1st century AD – Pliny gives it as the name of a gem.^[2][11]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Philostratus uses it for a fish.^[2][4][11]
• About AD 700 – Coptic has the loanword ⲧⲁⲟⲥ (taos).^[9]
• Modern Greek – The bird is called Modern Greek παγώνι (pagóni), from Latin, and ταώς names the constellation Pavo.^[10][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The peacock.^[2][12]
2. (figurative) A vain, showy man, a coxcomb.^[2]
3. A precious stone.^[2][3]
4. A fish, named for its colour.^[2][4]

Word family

• ταώνιος (taṓnios)

Related words

• Latin pāvō

Usage notes

The grammarian Herodian says that a form ταός does not exist.^[2]

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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e 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 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
5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
10. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press