ἄγκυρα

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /áŋ.kyː.ra/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈaɲ.ɟy.ra/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈaɲ.ɟy.ra/^[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ (ánkūra) f (genitive ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes takes it as Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek: its suffix -υρα (-ura) is typically Pre-Greek, as in γέφυρα (géphūra, “bridge”) and γόργυρα (górgūra, “underground sewer”), so it does not continue an inherited formation.^[2][1] It has traditionally been derived from *h₂enk-ur-ya-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk- (“to bend”), the root of ἄγκος (ánkos, “bend”), a view the OED supports.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded uses are in Alcaeus and Theognis, for an anchor.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Pindar, Herodotus, Aeschylus and Xenophon speak of casting anchor, Herodotus of keeping ships at anchor, and Plutarch of weighing anchor.^[3] It also meant a hook.^[1] Its rare derivatives include ἀγκυρωτός (ankurōtós) “anchor-shaped”.^[2]

Latin borrowed it as ancora.^[2][5] Modern Greek άγκυρα is learned, beside popular άγκουρα.^[6]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it.^[2][3][7]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it.^[3][4][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar speaks of casting anchor.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus speaks of ships at anchor.^[3][7]
• Modern Greek – άγκυρα means anchor.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An anchor.^[3][1]
2. A hook.^[1]

Related words

• ἀγκάλη (ankálē)
• ἄγκοινα (ánkoina)
• ἀγκών (ankṓn)
• Latin ancora
• English anchor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge