ψύλλα

Forms

ψῠ́λλᾰ (psúlla) f (genitive ψῠ́λλης); first declension^[1] Masculine ψύλλος (psúllos) in Epicharmus and Aristotle, which the Atticist Phrynichus rejected in favour of ψύλλα.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *plús-ih₂ (“flea”), with metathesis to *psuli-, perhaps by association with ψῆν (psên, “to rub”).^[3][1] Cognate with Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi), Old Armenian լու (lu), Lithuanian blusà, Latin pūlex, Old English flēah and Albanian plesht.^[3][1]

The name of the flea varies irregularly across the Indo-European languages, and Beekes explains the variants as euphemistic, playful or folk-etymological distortions, perhaps already in the parent language.^[3] LSJ sets up four different starting forms.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Aristophanes' Clouds, meaning a flea.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Aristophanes and Xenophon use it for the flea, and Aristotle also for a venomous spider.^[2][5] Theophrastus applies it to an insect that attacks radishes and chickpeas, and Aelian to a kind of monkey.^[2][5] The masculine ψύλλος, attested in Epicharmus and Aristotle, was condemned by Phrynichus.^[2]

Modern Greek ψύλλος (psýllos) continues the masculine.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Xenophon use it for the flea.^[2][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it also for a venomous spider.^[2]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for an insect that attacks radishes.^[2]
• 2nd century AD – Phrynichus rejects the masculine ψύλλος in favour of ψύλλα.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The masculine ψύλλος (psýllos) names the flea.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flea.^[2][5]
2. A venomous spider.^[2]
3. An insect that attacks radishes and chickpeas.^[2]
4. A kind of monkey.^[2]

Word family

• ψύλλειον (psúlleion)
• ψυλλίζω (psullízō)
• ψύλλιον (psúllion)
• ψυλλόβρωτος (psullóbrōtos)

Related words

• Latin pūlex
• English flea

References

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