Etymologically
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ἅρμα

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /hár.ma/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈar.ma/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈar.ma/[1]

Forms

ᾰ̔́ρμᾰ (hárma) n (genitive ᾰ̔́ρμᾰτος); third declension[1] Aeolic ἄρμα (árma) in Sappho.[2][3] Mycenaean a-mo, plural Mycenaean Greek a-mo-ta, meaning “wheel”.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂érmn̥, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit together, join”), the root of ἀραρίσκω (ararískō) and ἁρμός (harmós).[1][4][2] Formations with an /m/ suffix are found outside Greek too, as in Latin arma (“weapons”).[4][2][6] The rough breathing, shared with ἁρμόζω (harmózō) and ἁρμονία (harmoníā), has been explained from an original suffix *-smo-, but the Mycenaean form has no /h/, and the DGE holds that the breathing is late and analogical.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

On the Mycenaean tablets of Knossos and Pylos Mycenaean Greek a-mo means a wheel, and a workshop of wheel-makers is named.[4][5] Homer uses it for the chariot, especially the war chariot, often in the plural for a single chariot.[7][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Homer and Pindar it can mean the chariot with its horses, a yoked team, and in Euripides, Aristophanes and Xenophon the team itself, as in the phrase “to keep chariots”, that is chariot horses for racing.[7][3] From Pindar on it is also the racing chariot, and Herodotus contrasts it with the covered carriage ἁρμάμαξα (harmámaxa).[7][2] Xenophon uses it for scythed chariots.[2] Euripides calls three goddesses a “three-horse chariot” of divinities.[7][3] In Acts of the Apostles it is a travelling carriage, and in Revelation the war chariot.[8] Late poets such as Nonnus call a ship the “chariot of the sea”.[7]

Modern Greek άρμα (árma) continues it as a learned word for the ancient chariot and, as semantic loans from French char, for a carnival float and for a military tank.[9] It is a different word from the medieval and Modern Greek άρμα “weapon”, which comes from Latin arma.[9][10]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean period – Tablets from Knossos and Pylos use Mycenaean Greek a-mo for a wheel.[4][5]
  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for the war chariot and for a chariot with its horses.[7][3]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Sappho names the chariots of the Lydians.[7][2]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the racing chariot.[7][3]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for scythed chariots and for racing teams.[2][7]
  • 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles uses it for a travelling carriage.[8][3]
  • 4th–5th century AD – Nonnus calls a ship the “chariot of the sea”.[7]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek άρμα (árma) is the ancient chariot, a carnival float and a tank.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A chariot, especially a war chariot; often in the plural for a single one.[7][3]
  2. A racing chariot.[7][3]
  3. A travelling carriage.[3][8]
  4. A chariot with its horses; a team of chariot horses.[7][3]
  5. (poetic, figurative) A ship, as the “chariot of the sea”.[7]

Word family

  • ἁρματεύω (harmateúō)
  • ἁρμάτειος (harmáteios)
  • ἁρματοπηγός (harmatopēgós)
  • ἁρμάμαξα (harmámaxa)

Usage notes

Harma was also a district of Attica from which lightning was watched for omens, and the saying “when it lightens through Harma” meant seldom or never.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  5. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
  6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr