ἀρχός

Forms

ᾰ̓ρχός (arkhós) m (genitive ᾰ̓ρχοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a verbal noun from Ancient Greek ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin; to rule”).^[2][1] Klingenschmitt derived the verb from a present Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥-ske- (“to be first”), but its origin is disputed.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is a leader or chief, often in apposition to “man”, and with the genitive, a leader of ships.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It stayed mainly poetic: Pindar calls the eagle of Zeus the chief of birds, and Euripides uses it of a city's ruler.^[4][5] Inscriptions use it as a title: a ruler at Miletus in the 6th century BC, a god at Argos in the 5th, and later the equivalent of an ἄρχων (árkhōn).^[4] A 4th-century AD inscription renders the Roman title dux Orientis with it.^[4] In Hippocratic medicine and in Aristotle it is the rectum, and in Hippocratic writings also the anus.^[4]

In the medieval vernacular Byzantine Greek αρχός (arkhós) is a leader, probably from άρχος (árkhos) under the influence of αρχηγός (arkhēgós), and it survives in dialects.^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a leader of men and of ships.^[4][7]
• 6th century BC – An inscription from Miletus uses it for a ruler.^[4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls the eagle the chief of birds.^[4][5][8]
• 5th century BC – An inscription from Argos applies it to a god.^[4]
• 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it for the rectum and the anus.^[4][8]
• 4th century AD – An inscription renders the Roman title dux Orientis with it.^[4]
• Medieval Greek – Vernacular texts use Byzantine Greek αρχός (arkhós) for a leader.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leader or chief, with the genitive of those led.^[4][5]
2. A ruler; in inscriptions, an ἄρχων (árkhōn).^[4]
3. Of a god.^[4]
4. (anatomy) The rectum; the anus.^[4]

Related words

• ἄρχω (árkhō)
• ἄρχων (árkhōn)
• ὄρχαμος (órkhamos)

Usage notes

Beekes treats the anatomical sense as a separate word of unknown origin.^[3] Frisk asks whether it is simply the word for “leader” used as an ironic euphemism, and the DGE notes a comparison with ὄρρος (órrhos, “rump”) and Hittite arra- (“anus”), which would make it an independent word, but Frisk calls that comparison arbitrary.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge