ἑκυρός

Forms

ἑκῠρός (hekurós) m (genitive ἑκῠροῦ); second declension^[1] Inscriptions from Lydia have ὑκερός, with the vowels exchanged, and Daldis has ἱκερ-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱuros (“father-in-law”), an old kinship term kept in many languages.^[4][1][2] Cognate with Sanskrit श्वशुर (śváśura), Avestan xvasura, Latin socer, Old High German swehur and Lithuanian šẽšuras, all meaning “father-in-law”.^[4][2][5] The original initial consonant group with w still shows in Homer's metre, in the vocative of Iliad 3.172.^[4][2]

The accent on the last syllable is a Greek innovation, after the feminine ἑκυρά (hekurá, “mother-in-law”) and perhaps πενθερός (pentherós).^[4][2] The DGE treats the masculine as a thematic form made from the feminine.^[3]

Byzantine scholars guessed at other origins: the Homeric Epimerisms derived it from δέχομαι (dékhomai, “to receive”) or from κυρέω (kuréō, “to meet”), because the father-in-law receives the bride, and Eustathius from the authority he holds over the family.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is a husband's father, the father-in-law of a wife: Helen addresses Priam as φίλε ἑκυρέ, “dear father-in-law”.^[3][7][8]

Semantic evolution

It remained an epic word; the ordinary word for a father-in-law was πενθερός (pentherós).^[7] Corinna has the Boeotian verb ἑκουρεύω (hekoureúō), “to be father-in-law”.^[2] In the Roman period Lydian inscriptions use it, in the plural, for both parents-in-law, and the emperor Julian uses it for Laertes as Penelope's father-in-law.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for Priam as Helen's father-in-law.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Corinna uses the verb ἑκουρεύω, “to be father-in-law”.^[2][3]
• 1st–3rd century AD – Lydian inscriptions spell it ὑκερός and use the plural for both parents-in-law.^[3]
• 4th century AD – The emperor Julian uses it for Laertes.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (epic) A husband's father, father-in-law.^[7][8][3]
2. (in the plural) Parents-in-law.^[3]

Related words

• πενθερός (pentherós)
• Latin socer

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press