φίλτρον

Forms

φῐ́λτρον (phíltron) n (genitive φῐ́λτρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek φιλέω (philéō, “to love; to kiss”) + -τρον (-tron), with the suffix of instrument nouns: a means of making oneself loved.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The Etymologicum Magnum explains it as a shortened φίλητρον (phílētron), and Liddell and Scott (1889) and Etymonline give that as its proper form.^[6][7][8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Pindar, in the general sense of a charm: in one ode the bridle that tames a horse is a “horse charm”, in another songs are a charm put into a man's heart.^[9][2][10]

Semantic evolution

The tragedians use it most often for a love charm, whether a potion or anything else that wins love: in Sophocles' Women of Trachis it is the robe of Nessus by which Deianira hoped to win back Heracles, and in Euripides' Hippolytus there are “charms that enchant desire”.^[2][3][11] In the orator Antiphon a poison is given as a love charm, not to kill, and Theocritus' second idyll is a scene of love magic.^[2] Such charms were usually made from plants, sometimes with mineral and animal ingredients.^[11] The magical papyri give recipes for them.^[12]

More widely it was anything that charms or incites: Aeschylus calls oracles “charms of boldness”, Euripides says giving birth brings a strong charm, and Plutarch calls farming a charm for peace.^[2][3] In the plural, and later in the singular, it meant love and affection, as of the gods for Troy in Euripides or of a man for his homeland in an imperial letter.^[2][3] The Septuagint uses the plural for affection.^[13] Bion, Rufus and Pollux use it for the dimple in the upper lip.^[2]

Latin borrowed it as philtrum (“love potion”), whence French philtre and English philter (1580s); the medical Latin philtrum gave English philtrum for the groove of the upper lip in 1703.^[5][14][1] Modern Greek has a learned φίλτρο (fíltro) meaning a love potion and deep affection, especially of parents for their children; the homonym that means a filter is a different word, from Italian filtro and French filtre.^[15][4]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls a bridle a “horse charm” and songs a charm.^[9][2][16]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus calls oracles charms to produce boldness.^[2][16]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it for love charms, and Euripides uses the plural for love.^[2][3][16]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of love magic, and Menander calls a kindly character the one true charm.^[2][16]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Rufus uses it for the dimple of the upper lip.^[2][16]
• 1580s – English takes philter from it through Latin and French.^[5]
• 1703 – English takes philtrum from its anatomical sense.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned φίλτρο (fíltro) means a love potion and deep affection.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A love charm or love potion.^[2][3][11]
2. Any charm or spell; something that attracts or incites.^[2][3]
3. (chiefly in the plural) Love, affection.^[2][3][13]
4. (anatomy) The dimple in the upper lip, the philtrum.^[2][1]
5. Another name for the σταφυλῖνος (staphulînos) (in Eustathius), which Korinthios takes as the carrot or parsnip.^[2][17]

Word family

• πολύφιλτρος (polúphiltros)
• φιλτρίς (philtrís)
• φιλτροδότης (philtrodótēs)

Related words

• φιλέω (philéō)
• φίλος (phílos)
• Latin philtrum
• English philter
• English philtrum

Usage notes

Menander has the line ἕν ἐστ’ ἀληθὲς φίλτρον εὐγνώμων τρόπος, “one true charm there is: a kindly character”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
8. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
13. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
14. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
15. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
16. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
17. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli