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ἑλίκη

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἑλίκη

ἑλίκη1 winding; Great Bear

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
4th century BC, Aristotle
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ἕλιξ

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /he.lí.kɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /eˈli.ci/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈli.ci/[1]

Forms

ἑλῐ́κη (helíkē) f (genitive ἑλῐ́κης); first declension[1]

Etymology

The noun meaning “winding” is from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “anything twisted or spiral”).[2][1][3] The constellation is so called because it revolves around the pole.[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle uses it for the convolution of a spiral shell, of the bowels and of the inner ear.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic poetry, in Aratus and Apollonius of Rhodes, it is the name of the Great Bear, from its circling round the pole.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the spiral of a shell and the convolutions of the bowels and the ear.[2][5]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses it for the Great Bear.[2]
  • 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for the Great Bear.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (astronomy) The Great Bear, Ursa Major.[2][4][1]
  2. A convolution: of a spiral shell, of the bowels; the cochlea of the ear.[2][5]

ἑλίκη2 willow

Confidence
Disputed
First attested
Mycenaean (Linear B)

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /he.lí.kɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /eˈli.ci/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈli.ci/[1]

Forms

ἑλῐ́κη (helíkē) f (genitive ἑλῐ́κης); first declension[1] Mycenaean e-ri-ka.[3][5][7]

Etymology

The noun meaning “willow” is of disputed origin.[3] LSJ, like the traditional view, explains it from ἕλιξ (hélix), because of the pliant twigs of the tree, but Wiktionary thinks a separate origin more likely.[2][1] Chantraine finds the comparison with Latin salix (“willow”), Old High German salaha and Old English sealh tempting, though the Latin and Germanic forms need different preforms; the DGE and Wiktionary also relate it to these words.[7][5][1]

Frisk rejected the Latin word because of Boeotian ϝελικών (welikṓn), with initial digamma, and preferred welig (“willow”), Old Saxon wilgia and Middle High German wilge.[8] Beekes rejects the Germanic comparison as well, because of the Mycenaean form, and says that Chantraine's root Proto-Indo-European *swel- or *sel- solves nothing.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mycenaean tablets have Mycenaean Greek e-ri-ka in inventories of wheels, which are thought to have been made of willow wood.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

An Attic boundary stone marks the “boundary of the willow”.[3][7] Theophrastus says that the Arcadians use the word for the ἰτέα (itéā), the crack willow.[3][2][5] Beekes explains the name of Mount Ἑλικών (Helikṓn) as “willow mountain”.[3] Hesychius records it also for the seed of henbane.[5]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean (Linear B) – Mycenaean Greek e-ri-ka appears in inventories of wheels.[7][3]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus records it as the Arcadian name of the crack willow.[2][5]
  • 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as the willow and the seed of henbane.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Arcadian) The crack willow, Salix fragilis.[2][5][3]
  2. The seed of henbane.[5]

Word family

  • Ἑλικών (Helikṓn)
  • ἕλιξ (hélix)
  • Latin salix

Usage notes

The proper name Ἑλίκη (Helíkē) is the Great Bear and also a town on the north coast of Achaea with a temple of Poseidon, known from Homer on.[4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b c d e 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
  8. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  9. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
Cite this entry

“Ἑλίκη.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%91%CE%BB%CE%AF%CE%BA%CE%B7. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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