ἄλσος

Forms

ᾰ̓́λσος (álsos) n (genitive ᾰ̓́λσεος or ᾰ̓́λσους); third declension^[1] The DGE gives a Mycenaean form Mycenaean Greek a-se-e.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[3][4] Pausanias already identified it with Ἄλτις (Áltis), the name of the sacred precinct of Zeus at Olympia, and on that basis ἄλσος is reconstructed as *alti̯os.^[3][4][5] Furnée accepts the equation but explains it as one of the alternations of a dental and a sibilant found in substrate words, like ἄννησον (ánnēson) beside ἄνηθον (ánēthon).^[3] Beekes therefore marks it as possibly Pre-Greek.^[3][1] Van Windekens's link with Hittite alš- (“to owe fealty”) is hardly convincing to Beekes.^[3]

The DGE and Wiktionary give an older derivation from the root of growing, Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”), which also gave Latin alō.^[2][1] Babiniotis finds a connection with ἀλδαίνω (aldaínō, “to nourish”) improbable.^[2][1][4] The ninth-century Etymologicum Genuinum derived it from that verb, or from ἄρδω (árdō, “to water”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on: in the Iliad and the Odyssey it is a grove, often the sacred grove of a god, and in the Iliad also a sacred precinct, such as Poseidon's at Onchestus.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

In Archaic and Classical Greek the sacred grove of a divinity was its main sense: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, Sappho, Pindar and Herodotus use it so.^[8][2] From there it came to mean any hallowed precinct, even without trees, and in poetry any wide expanse: Bacchylides and Aeschylus speak of the “grove” of the sea, meaning the open sea.^[5][8] In Hellenistic cities it was also a public park.^[2]

Modern Greek άλσος (álsos) is a learned word for a grove or park, with the diminutive Modern Greek αλσύλλιο (alsýllio).^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a grove and a sacred grove.^[7][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for sacred groves.^[5][2]
• 5th century BC – Bacchylides uses it for the expanse of the sea.^[5]
• 1st century AD – Josephus uses it for public parks in cities.^[2]
• 2nd century AD – Pausanias identifies it with the name of the Altis at Olympia.^[3][4]
• Modern Greek – The learned άλσος (álsos) means a grove or park.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grove, a wooded place, a glade.^[5][8]
2. A sacred grove of a divinity.^[5][8]
3. A sacred precinct, wooded or not.^[5][8]
4. (poetry) A wide level expanse, as of the sea.^[5][8]
5. (Hellenistic) A public park.^[2]

Word family

• ἀλσηίς (alsēís)
• ἀλσώδης (alsṓdēs)
• ἀλσίνη (alsínē)

Related words

• Ἄλτις (Áltis)

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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki