ἄργυρος

Forms

ᾰ̓́ργῠρος (árguros) m (genitive ᾰ̓ργῠ́ρου); second declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek a-ku-ro.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *árguros,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- (“brilliant white”), built on a u-stem of that root.^[3][1] The same stem is found in ἄργυφος (árguphos, “shining white”), Sanskrit अर्जुन (árjuna, “white, bright”) and Latin arguō (“to make clear”);^[3][4] the DGE suggests that ἄργυρος may be an adjective in -ρό- made from an unattested *ἀργύς (*argús).^[2] Lexica also connect it with ἀργός (argós, “shining, white”).^[5][6]

Other languages made the name of the metal from a nt-stem instead: Latin argentum, Old Irish argat and Avestan ərəzata, all from *h₂r̥ǵ-n̥t-o-.^[3] Chantraine notes that the Old Armenian word, Old Armenian արծաթ (arcatʻ), is difficult to fit.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is already on the Mycenaean tablets, as Mycenaean Greek a-ku-ro.^[2][1] In Homer it means silver, the white metal: the Iliad (2.857) speaks of Alybe, “the birthplace of silver”, and the poems mention silver on chariots, armour and furniture.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

From the metal the word passed to silver as a commodity and to silver coinage, and so to money in general;^[7][5] Sophocles uses it of a bribe.^[7][5] The common Ionic and Attic word for silver coin and money, however, was the derivative ἀργύριον (argúrion), and in the New Testament ἄργυρος is much less frequent than ἀργύριον.^[8][9] Aristotle and Theophrastus call mercury “liquid silver” (ἄργυρος χυτός).^[5][10] DatSemShift records the same polysemy of “silver” and “money” in other languages.^[11]

In the Septuagint and the New Testament silver is named together with gold as a precious material and as money.^[12][9] Modern Greek uses άργυρος (árgyros) as a learned word for silver and for the chemical element;^[13] the adjective αργυρός (argyrós, “of silver”) continues the ancient ἀργυροῦς (arguroûs) and is recorded in medieval vernacular texts.^[14][13]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Linear B tablets have Mycenaean Greek a-ku-ro.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for silver, the metal.^[6][5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for silver money.^[5][7][2]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for money given as a bribe.^[5][7][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle calls mercury ἄργυρος χυτός, “liquid silver”.^[5][2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament names it with gold as a material and as money.^[9]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the learned άργυρος, “silver”, also the chemical element.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Silver, the white metal; silver used for decoration, armour and offerings.^[7][5]
2. Silver as a commodity.^[7][9]
3. Silver coinage; generally, money, also money paid as a bribe.^[7][5]
4. Silver plate (ἄργυρος κοῖλος, literally “hollow silver”).^[5]
5. (with χυτός) Mercury, quicksilver.^[5]

Word family

• ἀργυράγχη (arguránkhē)
• ἀργυραμοιβός (arguramoibós)
• ἀργυράσπιδες (arguráspides)
• ἀργύρεος (argúreos)
• ἀργυρήλατος (argurḗlatos)
• ἀργυρίζομαι (argurízomai)
• ἀργυρικός (argurikós)
• ἀργύριον (argúrion)
• ἀργύριος (argúrios)
• ἀργυρίς (argurís)
• ἀργυρῖτις (argurîtis)
• ἀργυρογνώμων (argurognṓmōn)
• ἀργυροειδής (arguroeidḗs)
• ἀργυρόηλος (arguróēlos)

Related words

• ἀργός (argós)
• ἀργύφεος (argúpheos)
• ἄργυφος (árguphos)

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 f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c 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 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 f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ Zalizniak, Anna A., et al. (2024), Database of Semantic Shifts (DatSemShift), Moscow: Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, https://datsemshift.ru
12. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
13. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr