τορύνη

Forms

τορῡ́νη (torū́nē) f (genitive τορῡ́νης); first declension^[1] Doric τορύνα (torúnā).^[2][3] The ⟨υ⟩ is long in Aristophanes but short in an epigram of Leonidas.^[4][3]

Etymology

The origin is obscure.^[2][3] It has the same suffix as κορύνη (korúnē, “club”), σιβύνη (sibúnē, “spear”) and χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”).^[5][2][3]

Fick, Froehde and Frisk compared a Germanic verb for stirring, Old High German dweran ‘to turn quickly, stir’ and Old English þweran, with dwiril ‘whisk, stirring stick’, from Proto-Germanic *þwer-ila-.^[3][5] The meaning fits well, but the comparison needs an original zero grade *τυρύνη (*turúnē), with dissimilation of its vowel, and Beekes finds it formally implausible.^[5][2] A link with τείρω (teírō, “to wear out”) is difficult in meaning, and Latin trua (“ladle”), though it means the same, cannot be reconciled with the Greek form.^[5][2] Because ⟨-ῡν-⟩ is a Pre-Greek suffix, Beekes holds that the word could be Pre-Greek, its ο perhaps continuing an older *a before *u.^[5]

Frisk takes the verb τορύνω (torúnō) as a back-formation from the noun, while Schwyzer derived the noun from the verb.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sophron, the 5th-century BC writer of mimes, is the first to use it, for a ladle for stirring food as it boils.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Aristophanes has it in the Knights and the Birds, and Plato's Hippias Major contrasts a golden ladle with one of fig wood.^[4][7] From it came the verb τορυνάω (torunáō) ‘to stir with a ladle’, used in the Hippocratic writings, by Eubulus and by Dioscorides, also compounded with συν- (sun-) in medical texts.^[2][3] Plutarch and Epictetus still use the noun.^[7]

The Latin words trulla and trua were used for the same kind of stirring and skimming ladle.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Sophron uses it for a stirring ladle.^[4][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes has it in the Knights and the Birds, and Plato in the Hippias Major.^[4][7][6]
• 4th century BC – Eubulus uses the verb τορυνάω (torunáō).^[2][3][6]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the same verb in his recipes.^[2][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses the noun in his Life of Antony.^[7][6]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius records a second τορύνη, a food made from grain.^[9][5][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ladle or stirring spoon for stirring food while it boils.^[4][5][2]

Word family

• τορυνάω (torunáō)
• τορύνω (torúnō)

Related words

• κορύνη (korúnē)
• Latin trulla

Usage notes

Hesychius records a τορύνη glossed as “something made of grain”.^[9][4] Beekes lists it as a separate word of unknown origin and compares πύρνος (púrnos) ‘wheaten bread’.^[5] Chantraine suggests it may be the same word, used for a purée made with the ladle.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)