Etymologically
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φόβος

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰó.bos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɸo.βos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfo.vos/[1]

Forms

φόβος (phóbos) m (genitive φόβου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰógʷos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰógʷos, from *bʰegʷ- (“to run, flee”).[1] It has the /o/ grade of φέβομαι (phébomai, “to flee”).[2][3][4] Etymonline compares Lithuanian bėgti (“to flee”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is panic flight, the usual sense in the Iliad (2.767), and once in the Odyssey (24.57).[3][6] Etymonline notes that “flight” is still its only sense in Homer.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the Iliad it is also the routing of troops, and personified as Phobos, son of Ares, it appears in the Iliad and in Hesiod's Theogony.[4][6] From panic in battle (Tyrtaeus, Aeschylus, Pindar, Herodotus) it became the general word for fear, felt by persons, animals and communities (Archilochus, Herodotus, tragedy).[4][5] It also meant awe or reverence, and something that causes fear.[1]

Modern Greek φόβος “fear” continues it, and Mariupol Greek has фо́вус.[7][1] English phobia (1786) and -phobia come from it.[5]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for panic flight.[3][6]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names Phobos, son of Ares.[4][6][8]
  • 7th century BC – Archilochus uses it for fear.[4][8]
  • 1786 – English phobia is recorded.[5]
  • Modern Greek – φόβος means fear.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Panic flight; a rout.[3][4]
  2. Fear, terror, panic.[4][1]
  3. Awe, reverence.[1]
  4. Something that causes fear.[1]

Proper noun

  1. Phobos, Rout, son of Ares.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  3. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge