φύλλον

Forms

φῠ́λλον (phúllon) n (genitive φῠ́λλου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-yom, from *bʰleh₃- (“leaf, blossom”).^[1][2] Beekes connects it with Latin folium (“leaf”) as *bʰol-yo-, though the vowels do not seem to match.^[3] Vine explains the /u/ by a change of /o/ before /lj/.^[3] Chantraine adds that the group of φύω (phúō) “to grow” probably influenced the vowel.^[4] IE-CoR takes the Latin connection as possible but uncertain.^[2]

Germanic, Tocharian and Celtic have different formations with a dental suffix: Old High German blat (“leaf”), Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”) and Middle Irish bláth (“blossom”).^[3][4] The English word blossom is related.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, in the plural, for leaves or foliage; a famous line compares the generations of men to those of leaves.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Epic and Herodotus use it only in the plural, and Hesiod speaks of leaves shed to the ground.^[5] Mimnermus took up the Homeric image of men as leaves.^[5] The singular is found in Sophocles and Theophrastus.^[5] Herodotus uses it of the petals of a rose, Pindar of songs, and in Euripides the leaves are wreaths.^[5][6] Sophocles uses it of medicinal herbs, and botanists of particular plants and of the leaf-like fruit of silphium; in Ptolemaic papyri it refers to crops in a land survey.^[5] The New Testament uses it mostly in the plural.^[7]

It survives as Modern Greek φύλλο (fýllo) “leaf”, with one sense that goes back to Medieval Greek and others modelled on Italian carte and French feuille.^[8][2] The English word phyllo, a pastry of very thin sheets, comes from Modern Greek.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad compares the generations of men to leaves.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod describes leaves falling to the ground.^[5][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the petals of a rose, and Sophocles of a single leaf and of healing herbs.^[5][10]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it as a botanical term.^[5][10]
• 2nd century BC – Papyri use it of crops in land surveys.^[5]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it, mostly in the plural.^[7]
• 1974 – The English word phyllo is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leaf; in the plural, leaves, foliage.^[5][6]
2. A petal of a flower.^[5][6]
3. (poetic) In the plural, wreaths; figuratively, songs.^[5][6]
4. A plant or herb, especially a medicinal one; in papyri, a crop.^[5][6]
5. A name of particular plants, such as dog's mercury.^[5]

Word family

• φύλλινος (phúllinos)
• ἀγριόφυλλον (agrióphullon)
• ἐλαιόφυλλον (elaióphullon)
• καρυόφυλλον (karuóphullon)
• κισσόφυλλον (kissóphullon)
• μελισσόφυλλον (melissóphullon)
• συκόφυλλον (sūkóphullon)
• ὑδνόφυλλον (hudnóphullon)
• φυλλίς (phullís)
• φυλλῖτις (phullîtis)

Related words

• Latin folium
• English phyllo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge