ἀστήρ

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /as.tɛ̌ːr/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /asˈtir/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /asˈtir/^[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓στήρ (astḗr) m (genitive ᾰ̓στέρος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *astḗr, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”).^[1][2] Beekes calls the reconstruction straightforward: an old noun with nominative *h₂stēr, accusative *h₂ster-m, genitive *h₂str-os.^[2] The plural is mostly ἄστρα (ástra), from which a new singular ἄστρον (ástron) was made.^[2][3]

Cognate with Hittite ḫasterza (“star”), Old Armenian աստղ (astł, “star”), Old Irish ser (“star”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō, “star”), Tocharian B ścirye (“star”), Sanskrit तारा (tā́rā, “star”) and Latin stēlla (“star”).^[2][1] Beekes thinks a connection with *h₂eh₁s- (“to burn”) quite probable.^[2] A derivation from the Babylonian goddess name Akkadian Ištar is highly improbable because of the initial laryngeal, and Rosół lists it among rejected Semitic etymologies.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for stars and for a shooting star sent as a sign (Iliad 4.75); a child is “like a lovely star” (Iliad 6.401).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It names particular stars: Sirius in the Iliad and Hesiod, Venus from Homer on, Arcturus in Hesiod, and meteors and comets in Aristophanes and Plato.^[7][5] Euripides uses it for the light of a beacon and for an illustrious person, and Herodotus and Plutarch for a golden star-shaped ornament.^[7] It also meant a starfish and a kind of songbird.^[1] The Revelation of John has “a great star” falling from heaven (8:10).^[6]

Latin borrowed it as astēr.^[1] Medieval Greek kept αστήρ,^[8] and Modern Greek has αστέρι and άστρο.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for stars and a shooting star.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names Sirius and Arcturus.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a star-shaped ornament.^[7][6]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for an illustrious person.^[7][6]
• 1st century AD – Revelation has a great star falling.^[6]
• Modern Greek – αστέρι and άστρο mean star.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A star, planet or other heavenly body.^[5][1]
2. A shooting star, meteor; a comet.^[5][7]
3. A light, flame.^[5][7]
4. (figurative) An illustrious person.^[7][5]
5. A star-shaped ornament.^[7]
6. A starfish; a kind of songbird.^[1]

Word family

• ἀστέριος (astérios)
• ἀστερόεις (asteróeis)
• ἄναστρος (ánastros)
• ἀστερίσκος (asterískos)
• ἔναστρος (énastros)

Related words

• Latin stēlla
• English star

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org