Etymologically
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ἕλιξ

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

ἕλῐξ (hélix) f (genitive ἕλῐκος); third declension[1] Poetic εἷλιξ (heîlix).[2]

Etymology

It is formed like ἧλιξ (hêlix), χόλιξ (khólix) and δέλφιξ (délphix), probably from a noun that was itself from Ancient Greek εἰλέω (eiléō, “to turn, wind”), from older *ϝελνέω (*welnéō).[3][4] The DGE derives it with the suffix ⟨-ικ-⟩ from the root Proto-Indo-European *H₁u̯el- (“to turn”), and Babiniotis compares Latin volvō (“I roll”).[5][6] The epic adjective is probably a shortened compound such as *ἑλικόπους (*helikópous) or ἑλικόκραιρα (helikókraira).[4][3][1]

Beekes notes that the suffix ⟨-ικ-⟩ mostly forms Pre-Greek words, and so allows that it may be Pre-Greek.[3][1]

Latin borrowed it as helix, from which English helix comes.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the noun occurs once, for spiral armlets or earrings (Il. 18.401).[2][9] The adjective is a common epithet of oxen, usually understood of their twisted, crumpled horns, and often paired with εἰλίπους (eilípous) ‘rolling in gait’.[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Later poets use it of anything that turns or twists: Aeschylus of the forked flashes of lightning, Euripides of the coils of a serpent and of vine tendrils, Aristophanes of a cluster of grapes, Apollonius of Rhodes of a wreath of smoke.[2][9] Hesiod already has it for a tendril, and Theophrastus for the ivy itself.[9][2] Theocritus applies the adjective to bulls, where the CGL takes it to mean black.[9]

In science and the arts it became a technical term: Plato and Aristotle use it of the spiral motions of the heavens, Aristotle of the convolutions of shells, of the bowels and of the ear, and Callixenus and Vitruvius of the volute of a column capital.[2][9] Derivatives include the verb ἑλίσσω (helíssō) ‘to turn round, roll’ and ἑλίκη (helíkē) ‘spiral’, also a name of the Great Bear.[4]

Latin helix took the word over, and English helix has it from Latin, first in the 1560s of the volutes of Corinthian capitals.[7][8] Modern Greek έλικα (élika) is learned: it is the geometric helix and anything of that shape, and its sense ‘propeller’ copies French hélice.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses the noun for spiral jewellery and the adjective as an epithet of oxen.[2][9]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for a tendril.[9][5]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the forked flashes of lightning.[2][5]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for vine tendrils and the coils of a serpent.[2][9][5]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the spiral motions of the heavens and for anatomical convolutions.[2][5]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for ivy, and Theocritus for black bulls.[2][9][5]
  • 1st century BC – Vitruvius uses it for the volute of a capital.[2][5]
  • 1560s – English adopts helix from Latin.[8]
  • Modern Greek – έλικα (élika) means a helix, a spiral, and a propeller.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Twisted, curved; of oxen, perhaps with twisted horns, or rolling in gait.[2][9]
  2. Of bulls, perhaps black.[9]
  3. Of greenery, twining.[9][2]

Noun

  1. A spiral object; spiral armlets or earrings.[2][9]
  2. A whirl or convolution: forked flashes of lightning; the circular motion of the heavens; a wreath of smoke.[2][9]
  3. The tendril of a vine or ivy; the ivy itself.[2][9]
  4. A curl or lock of hair.[2]
  5. The coil of a serpent; the feelers of an octopus.[2][9]
  6. (architecture) The volute of a capital.[2]
  7. (anatomy) A convolution of a shell, of the bowels or of the ear; the colon.[2]

Word family

  • εἱλίσσω (heilíssō)
  • ἑλίγδην (helígdēn)
  • ἑλιγμός (heligmós)
  • ἑλικτήρ (heliktḗr)
  • ἑλίκωψ (helíkōps)
  • ἑλίσσω (helíssō)
  • ἐνελίσσω (enelíssō)
  • περιελίσσω (perielíssō)
  • ἑλίκη (helíkē)
  • ἕλιξις (hélixis)
  • ἐλελίζω (elelízō)
  • εἰλέω (eiléō)
  • Latin helix
  • English helix

Usage notes

LSJ heads the adjective ‘twisted’ (A) and the noun ‘spiral’ (B) separately, but Beekes, Frisk and the CGL treat them as one word.[2][3][4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  7. ^ a b Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki