ἀλόη

Forms

ᾰ̓λόη (alóē) f (genitive ᾰ̓λόης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk consider it, like ἀγάλοχον (agálokhon, “agarwood”), a loanword from an Oriental language whose source is unknown.^[2][3][4][5] The Cambridge Greek Lexicon calls it a Semitic loanword, and the New Pauly reports a derivation from Syriac.^[6][7] Wiktionary, noting that the word is first recorded in the 1st century AD, takes it as borrowed through Aramaic, comparing Classical Syriac ܥܠܘܝ (ʕalway) with the same meaning, and traces it further to an Old Tamil word for agarwood.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 1st century AD Dioscorides describes the bitter aloe, which he says grows mostly in India, and its juice, used in medicine; the Gospel of John names a mixture of myrrh and aloes used for embalming.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Semantic evolution

The name covered two different plants: the bitter aloe, whose juice was a purgative drug and a byword for bitterness in Plutarch, and the fragrant aloe, the aromatic wood also called ἀγάλοχον (agálokhon), used in perfumes, for colouring wine and in embalming.^[5][9][10] The Septuagint has the Hebrew form alṓth in the Song of Songs.^[9][5] With an epithet it named other plants and drugs: “Gallic aloe” was gentian, and the Geoponica names a “hepatic aloe”.^[9] The magical papyri use aloe with myrrh and other spices.^[12][5]

It was borrowed as Latin aloē, and Wiktionary also lists Old Armenian հալուէ (haluē) and Arabic أَلْوَة (ʔalwa) as borrowings.^[1][8] English aloe comes from the Latin word, first for the drug in the late 14th century.^[13] Medieval vernacular Greek has it, also as αλόγη (alógi), for the plant and its bitter juice, a tonic and purgative.^[14] Modern Greek αλόη (alói) names the plants and the medicinal juice.^[15]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Dioscorides describes the plant and its juice, and the Gospel of John names myrrh and aloes for embalming.^{[8][9][10][5]}
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it as a type of bitterness, and also of aloes used to colour wine.^[9][5]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it, also as αλόγη (alógi), for the plant and its bitter juice.^[14]
• Late 14th century – English takes aloe from Latin, first for the drug.^[13]
• Modern Greek – αλόη (alói) names the plants and their medicinal juice.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bitter aloe, Aloe vera, and its juice, used as a purgative drug.^[9][5][2]
2. Fragrant aloes, the aromatic wood of the agarwood tree, used in perfumes and in embalming.^[9][5][10]
3. With an epithet: “Gallic aloe”, gentian, and “hepatic aloe”.^[9]

Word family

• ἀλοῖτις (aloîtis)

Related words

• ἀγάλοχον (agálokhon)
• Latin aloē
• English aloe

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c Rosół, Rafał, ed., Lexicon of Oriental Words in Ancient Greek, https://orientalwordsingreek.org
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
12. ^ Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
15. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki