ἔρευθος

Forms

ἔρευθος (éreuthos) n (genitive ἐρεύθεος, contracted ἐρεύθους); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

A neuter s-stem noun beside the verb ἐρεύθω (ereúthō, “to make red”), from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”).^[3][4][5] The verb itself matches Old Norse rjóða “to make bloody” and Old English rēodan “to dye red” exactly.^[3][6]

The noun may also have an exact counterpart outside Greek: Beekes, Frisk and Chantraine compare Latin rōbus, Latin rōbur “heartwood, hard oak”, whose ō from older /eu/ is a dialect feature, since heartwood is redder than the outer wood.^[3][6][4] The zero grade of the same root is in ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”), which matches Latin ruber and Old Church Slavonic ръдръ (rŭdrŭ).^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Hippocratic writings of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, for the redness or flush of the face and skin in illness.^[1][8][9]

Semantic evolution

A rare word, at home in medical prose and Hellenistic poetry.^[8][10] Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for the red of a dyed cloak and for a blush, Callimachus for the flush of a face, and Moschus for a rosy complexion.^[10][1] Philo uses it of the rouge on painted cheeks, in his picture of Pleasure dressed up like a courtesan.^[1][11] Plutarch has it for a blush of shame.^[12][13]

Hesychius explains it with ἐρύθημα (erúthēma) “redness”, αἰδώς (aidṓs) “shame” and ἄνθος (ánthos) “bloom”.^[14] The word did not survive into Modern Greek, where redness is expressed by words from the zero-grade ἐρυθρός (eruthrós).^[15]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – The Hippocratic Corpus uses it for the flush of the face and of inflamed skin.^[1][8][9]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for the red of a cloak and for a blush, and Callimachus for a flushed face.^[10][1][9]
• 2nd century BC – Moschus uses it for a rosy complexion.^[10][9]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo uses it of rouge on painted cheeks.^[1][9]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of a blush.^[1][12][9]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as redness, shame and bloom.^[14][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Redness, a flush of the skin, especially in illness.^[1][16]
2. A blush; a rosy complexion.^[10][16]
3. Red colour, as of a dye.^[1][10]
4. Rouge, red paint on the face.^[1][11]

Word family

• ἐρευθής (ereuthḗs)

Related words

• ἐρεύθω (ereúthō)
• ἐρυθρός (eruthrós)
• Latin ruber
• Latin rōbur

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl
3. ^ a b c 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 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
8. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
12. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
13. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
14. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
16. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg