χῶρος

Forms

χῶρος (khôros) m (genitive χώρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a by-form of χώρα (khṓrā, “space, land”), with the same root and meaning.^[1][2][3] Their origin is uncertain.^[4][2] Frisk analyses both words as formed with a suffix -ρ- like that of ἀγρός (agrós) and ἕδρα (hédra); assuming a basic meaning "unoccupied space", Beekes allows a link with χήρα (khḗrā, “widow”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave behind”).^[4][2][5] Chantraine thinks the ρ may belong to the root, which would point instead to the family of χορός (khorós, “dancing place”), which also denotes a bounded space.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning a place or spot, or a measured space of ground: in the Iliad a piece of ground is measured out for a duel, and a space is seen clear of the dead.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Unlike χώρα, χῶρος had no specialised senses; it is the poetic word for a place, used by Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus and the tragedians, and in Attic prose mostly by Xenophon.^[2][7] It can be a region, such as the joyless region of the dead in the Odyssey or "the place of the pious" in the underworld, a land or country in Herodotus, and in Xenophon landed property or the country as opposed to the town.^[7][9] Polybius uses it of a confined space.^[7]

Modern Greek χώρος (chóros) is a learned form; its scientific senses ("space" in physics) translate French espace, English space and German Raum.^[10][3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a place or space of ground.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of fertile and airy places.^[7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a land or country.^[7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for an estate and for the countryside.^[7][2]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a confined space.^[7]
• Modern Greek – Learned χώρος (chóros) takes the senses of French espace and English space.^[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A definite space, piece of ground, place.^[7][6][9]
2. A region, especially of the underworld: the place of the pious, of the impious.^[7][9]
3. A space, compass.^[7]
4. A land, country; in the plural, lands.^[7]
5. Landed property, estate; the country as opposed to the town.^[7]
6. A country town.^[7]

Word family

• χωρέω (khōréō)

Related words

• χώρα (khṓrā)
• χήρα (khḗrā)

Usage notes

A different χῶρος, the north-west wind, Latin corus, occurs in the Acts of the Apostles in the phrase κατὰ χῶρον, "facing north-west", and BDAG suggests it was a sailors' word.^[7][9] Rare in pure Attic prose, χῶρος is common in Xenophon.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d 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
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki