ἀρήν

Forms

ᾰ̓ρήν (arḗn) m or f (genitive ᾰ̓ρνός); third declension^[1] The nominative is found only in inscriptions.^[2][3] Cretan (Gortyn) has a form with the digamma, which Homer's metre also shows.^[2][4] Third-century BC papyri have the remade nominatives ἄρης and ἄρνον, and Aesop ἀρνός.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *warḗn,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”).^[5][1] The digamma is attested in Cretan ϝαρήν (warḗn).^[4][5] Cognate with Old Armenian գառն (gaṙn, “lamb”), whose ending matches the Greek exactly, and Sanskrit उरण (úraṇa, “ram, lamb”), a thematized form of the same stem, and Beekes also compares Middle Persian varak (“ram”).^[5][4]

Beekes reconstructs an original paradigm with a long-vowel nominative, a short-vowel accusative and a zero-grade genitive; the oblique stem of the Greek word is a later reshaping, while the old zero-grade stem survives in πολύρρην (polúrrēn, “rich in lambs”) and ῥήν (rhḗn).^[5][4] Wiktionary also lists Latin vervēx (“wether”) as a cognate, but Chantraine thinks the links with the Latin word and with εἶρος (eîros, “wool”) very doubtful, and Beekes keeps the word for wool apart.^[1][4][5]

The grammarian Orion derived it from ἀράομαι (aráomai, “to pray”), since the lamb was the animal for prayer and sacrifice.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets already have derivatives: Mycenaean Greek we-re-ne-ja in a list of leather objects at Pylos, probably “of lambskin”, wo-ro-ne-ja perhaps of wool at Mycenae, and the personal name wa-ni-ko.^[4][7] In Homer the word, in its oblique cases, means a lamb, often a firstborn one for sacrifice, and also a sheep of either sex.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

It was a common word, often in the plural, while ἀμνός (amnós) was rare, but Attic more often used the diminutive ἀρνίον (arníon).^[4][7] Theophrastus used the plural for stunted ears of wheat.^[2]

In the Septuagint it renders “lamb” and “sheep”, as in the Passover law of Exodus 12:5.^[9] The New Testament uses it for lambs as animals for slaughter and as an image of weakness, “like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3), a contrast that goes back to Homer.^[3]

The diminutive survived: medieval Greek αρνί(ν), from ἀρνίον, gave Modern Greek αρνί (arní), “lamb, sheep”.^[10][7]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Tablets from Pylos and Mycenae have the derivatives we-re-ne-ja and wo-ro-ne-ja.^[4]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for lambs and sheep.^[2][8]
• 7th–6th century BC – The nominative ἀρήν first appears, in early inscriptions.^[3]
• 5th century BC – The diminutive ἀρνίον is in use.^[7]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses the plural for stunted ears of wheat.^[2][11]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri have the remade nominatives ἄρης and ἄρνον, and an inscription from Delos has ἀρήν.^[2]
• 1st century AD – Josephus uses the dative plural ἀρνάσι.^[2][11]
• Middle Ages – Vernacular Greek has αρνί(ν), from ἀρνίον.^[10]
• Modern Greek – αρνί (arní) is the ordinary word for a lamb.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lamb, especially as a sacrificial animal.^[2][8][3]
2. A sheep of either sex, a ram or a ewe.^[2][8]
3. (in the plural) Stunted ears of wheat.^[2]

Word family

• ἀρνακίς (arnakís)
• ἄρνειος (árneios)
• ἀρνειός (arneiós)
• ἀρνίον (arníon)
• πολύρρην (polúrrēn)
• ῥήν (rhḗn)

Related words

• ἀμνός (amnós)
• Modern Greek αρνί (arní)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
5. ^ a b c d e 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
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge