Etymologically
Log in

ἄσβεστος

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 15:35. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /áz.bes.tos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈaz.βes.tos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈaz.ves.tos/[1]

Forms

ἄσβεστος (ásbestos) m (feminine ἀσβέστη, neuter ἄσβεστον); first/second declension[1]

Etymology

It is the privative prefix with σβεστός (sbestós), the verbal adjective of σβέννυμι (sbénnumi, “to quench”): “unquenchable”.[2][3][1] The noun “quicklime” is short for “unslaked τίτανος (títanos, “lime”)”.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it of fire and, figuratively, of things that cannot be stopped: the “unquenchable laughter” of the gods in the first book of the Iliad, an endless battle cry, and undying fame in the Odyssey.[5][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense stayed in poetry: Pindar has the undying light of noble deeds, Aeschylus the ceaseless flow of Ocean.[6][3] The New Testament speaks of the unquenchable fire of judgement, and Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus of a sacred fire never allowed to go out.[4][6]

As a noun it meant unslaked lime in Dioscorides and Plutarch.[6][4] Beekes and Frisk, following Diels, stress that the Greek word never meant “asbestos”, for which Greek used ἀμίαντος (amíantos); the mineral sense is found only in Pliny's Latin, and English asbestos comes from it through Latin and French.[2][7][3][8] Medieval Greek kept the noun for lime, and Modern Greek has the learned noun Modern Greek άσβεστος (ásvestos) “lime” and the adjective “undying”.[9][10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad speaks of unquenchable flame and the gods' unquenchable laughter.[5][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it of undying glory and Ocean's ceaseless flow.[6]
  • 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the feminine for unslaked lime.[6][3]
  • 1st century AD – The Gospels speak of unquenchable fire.[4]
  • 1st century AD – Pliny uses asbestos for a mineral.[6][3]
  • 1650s – English uses asbestos for the mineral.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. unquenchable, inextinguishable, of fire.[6][5]
  2. (figurative) Ceaseless, undying, of laughter, fame or a battle cry.[6][3]

Noun

  1. Unslaked lime, quicklime.[6][4]
  2. (Latin writers) A mineral; asbestos.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ a b c d e 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
  5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki