φαλός

Forms

φᾰλός (phalós) m (feminine φᾰλή, neuter φᾰλόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers the whole group Pre-Greek, because its members alternate φ with β (βαλιός (baliós, “dappled”)), τ with θ and κ with γ, and show Pre-Greek suffixes, as in φαλακρός (phalakrós, “bald”) and φάλανθος (phálanthos, “bald”).^[2][3][1]

The older view, which Frisk and Chantraine give, derives φαλός from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, white”), through a form *bʰol- according to Chantraine.^[4][5][1] Frisk compares Lithuanian bãlas (“white”) and Albanian balë (“horse with a white blaze”); with a lengthened grade, Latvian bâls (“pale”) and Old Church Slavonic бѣлъ (bělŭ, “white”).^[4][2] Chantraine adds Sanskrit भाल (bhāla, “brightness, forehead”) and notes that the root gives words for “bald” in Germanic as in Greek, such as English bald.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Only Hesychius records the word, glossing it λευκός (leukós), “white”, and also as “mad” or “foolish”.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine and Beekes explain the second sense, “frenzied, foolish”, by the same development as Pindar's “white wits” (λευκός (leukós) φρένες), glossed by Hesychius as “raving”, and Chantraine rejects a link with φηλός (phēlós, “deceitful”).^[2][5][4]

The adjective itself is a gloss, but its derivatives are well attested: φαλιός (phaliós, “white-spotted”) (Callimachus), φάληρος (phálēros, “white-crested”) (Nicander, Theocritus), Homer's participle φαληριόωντα of waves “cresting white”, φαληρίς (phalērís, “coot”), the Athenian harbour Φάληρον (Phálēron), and φαλακρός (phalakrós, “bald”).^[2][4]

Timeline

• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses φαλός as “white” and as “mad”.^[2][8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. white.^[6][2]
2. mad, foolish.^[5][2][6]

Word family

• φαλιός (phaliós)
• φάληρος (phálēros)
• φαληρίς (phalērís)
• φαλακρός (phalakrós)

Related words

• βαλιός (baliós)
• λευκός (leukós)

Usage notes

The noun φάλος (phálos), a part of the Homeric helmet, is a different word, with its own (perhaps Pre-Greek) origin.^[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 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
8. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
9. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge