χειμερινός

Forms

χειμερῐνός (kheimerinós) m (feminine χειμερῐνή, neuter χειμερῐνόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

NIL reconstructs it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeim-er-ino- (“of winter”), a formation that Latin hībernus (“wintry”) continues too.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary also allows a Greek formation from χείμερος (kheímeros, “wintry, stormy”) with the suffix -ινός (-inós).^[1]

The stem with -r- belongs to the Indo-European word for winter and snow, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- (“winter, snow”), which in Greek also gives χεῖμα (kheîma), χειμών (kheimṓn) and χιών (khiṓn, “snow”).^[3][2] The same -r- appears in Old Armenian ձմեռն (jmeṙn, “winter”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest examples are from the 5th century BC.^[5] Herodotus speaks of the winter sun, and Democritus of the winter solstice.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it means “of winter” and is the opposite of θερινός (therinós) “of summer”: Thucydides uses it of the winter months, the Hippocratic writers of the winter sunrise and sunset, and Herodotus has the feminine as a noun for the winter season.^[6][7] Plato's ideal city has winter mess-halls and reservoirs, things meant for use in winter, and Aristotle speaks of the winter coat that some animals shed.^[6][7]

A second sense is “stormy”: Thucydides uses it of an exposed place, and Aristotle and Theophrastus speak of a sign of a coming storm.^[6][7] Polybius uses it of winter rainstorms and of the winter solstice, Demosthenes of a battle fought in winter, and the First Letter of Clement of the winter seasons.^[7][6][8]

Modern Greek keeps χειμερινός (cheimerinós) as a learned word.^[9][4]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus speaks of the winter sun and uses the feminine for the winter season.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – Democritus speaks of the winter solstice.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of the winter months and of a stormy place.^[6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato describes mess-halls and reservoirs for use in winter.^[6][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of an animal's winter coat and of a sign of a coming storm.^[6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of winter rainstorms.^[6][7]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian writes of a winter night's dream.^[6]
• Modern Greek – χειμερινός (cheimerinós) survives as a learned word.^[9][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of winter, in winter; of the solstice, the winter solstice; feminine as a noun, the winter season; neuter plural, winter-time.^[6][7]
2. For use in winter: of mess-halls, reservoirs, an animal's coat.^[6][7]
3. Stormy, exposed to harsh weather; of a sign, foretelling a storm.^[6][7]

Related words

• χεῖμα (kheîma)
• χειμών (kheimṓn)
• χειμέριος (kheimérios)
• θερινός (therinós)
• Latin hībernus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
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 c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki