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ἔαρ

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Etymology and origin of the Ancient Greek word ἔαρ

ἔαρ1 spring

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Homer, Iliad
Inherited from
Proto-Hellenic *wéhər
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *wésr̥

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /é.ar/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈe.ar/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈe.ar/[1]

Forms

ἔᾰρ (éar) n (genitive ἔᾰρος); third declension[1]

Etymology

The word for spring is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wéhər,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wésr̥ (“spring”), an old heteroclitic stem in r and n.[2][1][3] The gloss γέαρ (géar) in Hesychius and Homeric prosody show an older w-, ϝέαρ (wéar).[2][4][5] The contracted forms ἦρος (êros) and ἦρι (êri) are Attic and Ionic, and Alcman made a new nominative ἦρ (êr).[2][5]

Cognates are Old Armenian գարուն (garun, “spring”), Lithuanian vasarà (“summer”), Old Church Slavonic весна (vesna, “spring”) and Sanskrit वसन्त (vasantá, “spring”), from the n-stem; Latin vēr and Old Norse vár have a long vowel.[2][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it in the genitive only: “and the season of spring comes on” (Iliad 6.148), and “when spring is newly begun” (Odyssey 19.519).[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod advises turning the soil in spring, and Herodotus and Thucydides date events “at the beginning of spring”.[5] It was also used figuratively of the prime or flower of something, by Herodotus and Aristotle;[5] Demades called the young men the spring of the people, and later poets the first down on a youth's cheek “the spring of the jaws”.[5]

The Coptic texts borrowed it, from about AD 300.[7] Modern Greek has it as έαρ (éar).[1]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the spring.[5][6]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the dative ἔαρι.[5][3]
  • 5th century BC – Cratinus has the proverb “one swallow does not make a spring”.[5][3]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it figuratively of the prime.[5][3]
  • 4th century BC – Demades calls the young men the spring of the people.[5][3]
  • About AD 300 – It is first found in Coptic.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Spring, the season.[5][6]
  2. (figurative) The prime, the flower of something; freshness.[5]

Word family

  • ἐαρινός (earinós)

ἔαρ2 blood

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
4th–3rd century BC, Callimachus
Inherited from
Proto-Hellenic *éhər
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /é.ar/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈe.ar/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈe.ar/[1]

Forms

ἔᾰρ (éar) n (genitive ἔᾰρος); third declension[1]

Etymology

The word for blood is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *éhər,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”), the old Indo-European word for blood.[1][2] Its inflection with r and n stems, kept in Hittite ešḫar and Sanskrit असृज् (ásṛj), is lost in Greek.[2][4][3] Beekes takes the long first vowel of εἶαρ (eîar) and ἦαρ (êar) as metrical;[2] Chantraine thinks it more probably old.[2][4]

Cognate with Tocharian B yasar, Latvian asins and Old Armenian արիւն (ariwn).[2][1] In Greek, as in Latin and Sanskrit, the word was replaced, by αἷμα (haîma).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Alexandrian poets: Callimachus has “filled with gore and blood”, and Euphorion speaks of the blood of Aeacus' descendant.[5] Hesychius records it as Cyprian.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Callimachus and Nicander also use it of sap and juice, such as the juice of the olive.[5][2] From it the poets formed εἰαροπότης (eiaropótēs, “blood-drinking”).[5]

Timeline

  • 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it for blood and for juice.[5][3]
  • 3rd century BC – Euphorion uses it for blood.[5][3]
  • 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it of the juice of the olive.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (poetic) Blood.[5][2]
  2. Sap, juice.[5][2]

Word family

  • εἰαροπότης (eiaropótēs)

Usage notes

Cratinus has the proverb “one swallow does not make a spring”, μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 i Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  4. ^ a b c d 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Ἔαρ.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/grc/%E1%BC%94%CE%B1%CF%81. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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