ἀκόνη

Forms

ᾰ̓κόνη (akónē) f (genitive ᾰ̓κόνης); first declension^[1] Doric ἀκόνα.^[2]

Etymology

It is a noun formed with the suffix -όνη (-ónē), as in περόνη (perónē) and βελόνη (belónē), on ἀκ-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”).^[3][4][1][5] The same root is in ἀκή (akḗ), ἀκμή (akmḗ) and ἄκρος (ákros), and ἄκων (ákōn) has the same /n/ suffix.^[3][4][6]

Ancient grammarians derived it from the word for “point”, which is close to the modern view, and Choeroboscus also proposed the intensive ἀ- (a-) with a verb meaning “to make thin”, since the whetstone wears iron down.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Pindar, in figurative uses: in the sixth Olympian the poet feels a shrill whetstone on his tongue, rousing him to song, and in the sixth Isthmian a trainer is a “Naxian whetstone” for athletes.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In prose it is the ordinary whetstone or hone, from the comic poet Hermippus on; the Hippocratic writers also mention it.^[7][8] Eros is called the whetstone of the soul in the Greek Anthology.^[7][9] Pollux uses it for a part of the ear, and a lapidary text for a small pestle used by physicians.^[7][10] Coptic borrowed it, with Sahidic records from about AD 800.^[11]

The modern word is the diminutive: Modern Greek ακόνι (akóni) continues medieval ακόνι (akóni), from late ancient ἀκόνιον (akónion).^[12][13][14]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it figuratively of the poet's tongue and of a trainer.^[7][2]
• 5th century BC – Hermippus uses it for a whetstone.^[7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it often.^[9][2]
• 2nd century AD – Pollux uses it for part of the ear.^[7]
• About AD 800 – Coptic texts record it as a loanword.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The diminutive ακόνι (akóni) replaces it.^[12][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whetstone, hone.^[7][2]
2. (figurative) Something that sharpens or rouses: a trainer, love, the poet's tongue.^[7][2]
3. A part of the tragus of the ear.^[7][10]
4. A small pestle used by physicians.^[10]

Word family

• ἀκονάω (akonáō)
• ἀκονίας (akonías)
• ἀκόνιον (akónion)

Related words

• ἀκή (akḗ)
• ἀκμή (akmḗ)
• ἄκρος (ákros)
• ἄκων (ákōn)

Usage notes

The proverb ἀκόνην σιτίζειν, “to feed a whetstone”, is recorded by Zenobius.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
10. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
11. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
14. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας