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ἄρωμα

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἄρωμα

ἄρωμα1 spice

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
400s BC Hippocratic Corpus, Eupolis

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /á.rɔː.ma/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈa.ro.ma/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈa.ro.ma/[1]

Forms

ἄρωμα (árōma) n (genitive ἀρώματος); third declension[1]

Etymology

The spice word is of unknown origin.[2][3][4] Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk find no explanation and only mention a hypothesis of Wood, and Beekes refers to Chantraine for the suffix -ωμα (-ōma).[2][3][4] Wiktionary reports Strong's derivation from αἴρω (aírō, “to raise”), as of fragrance sent up into the air.[1] The DGE lists a broken Mycenaean form Mycenaean Greek a-ro-mo under this word.[5]

In the 1st–2nd century AD Apollonius the Sophist derived it from ἀρά (ará, “prayer”), explaining it as the “fumigations” of priests who pray for those who sacrifice.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Hippocratic writings and in the comic poet Eupolis, of aromatic herbs and spices.[5][7][2]

Semantic evolution

It is used almost always in the plural, of aromatic plants such as thyme and sage, and of spices and perfumes in mixtures.[5][3] Xenophon's Anabasis has it, and inscriptions and papyri record spices offered in sacrifice.[5][7] It was also used of spices for the dead: Diodorus uses it of those put in Alexander's coffin, and the Gospels of Mark, Luke and John of embalming spices.[8][5] Latin borrowed it as aroma.[9]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a pleasant smell, for perfume and for spice.[10] In Modern Greek άρωμα (ároma) is a learned word from Hellenistic Greek, meaning chiefly a pleasant smell or a perfume.[11]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings and Eupolis use it for aromatic plants.[5][7]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it in the Anabasis.[7][5]
  • 2nd century BC – Inscriptions record spices offered in sacrifice.[7][5]
  • 1st century AD – The Gospels use it of embalming spices.[8][5]
  • 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for perfume, scent and spice.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An aromatic herb or spice, usually in the plural.[7][5][2]
  2. Any fragrant substance, a perfume or fragrant oil, especially one used in embalming.[8][5]

Word family

  • ἀρωματίζω (arōmatízō)
  • ἀρωματικός (arōmatikós)

ἄρωμα2 arable land

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
400s BC Sophocles, Aristophanes
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ἀρόω
Etymology tree of ἄρωμα2
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek ἀρόω
Ancient Greek ἄρωμα

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /á.rɔː.ma/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈa.ro.ma/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈa.ro.ma/[1]

Forms

ἄρωμα (árōma) n (genitive ἀρώματος); third declension[1]

Etymology

The word for arable land is formed from Ancient Greek ἀρόω (aróō, “to plough”) + -μα (-ma, “noun suffix”).[1][7][2] Beekes lists it among the derivatives of the verb.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a fragment of Sophocles and in Aristophanes' Peace, in the phrase εὖ ποιοῦντος κὠφελοῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ τἀρώματα, “while the god does good to the ploughlands and helps them”.[7][5][12]

Semantic evolution

It was a rare poetic and comic word for ploughed land.[7][5] After Sophocles, Aristophanes and Eupolis it is found in Lucian and Aelian.[7][5]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for cornland.[7][5]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it in the Peace.[7][5]
  • 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Arable land, cornland.[7][5]

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. ^ a b c 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
  4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c 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
  9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Ἄρωμα.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%84%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%B1. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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