ἕξ

Forms

ἕξ (héx) (ordinal ἕκτος, adverbial ἑξᾰ́κῐς)^[1] Doric and other dialects ϝέξ.^[2][3] Mycenaean we-pe-za “six-footed”, a compound.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hwéks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs (“six”).^[1][2] Indo-European “six” has two variants: one with w, as in Doric ϝέξ (wéx), Old Armenian վեց (vecʻ), Welsh chwech and Avestan xšuuaš, and one without, as in Latin sex, Lithuanian šešì and the Germanic forms.^[2][5] Beekes takes the form with w as the original, its loss elsewhere perhaps being due to “seven”, *septḿ̥.^[2][5] The Attic form lost the w and the Doric form the aspiration.^[2][5]

Cognate with Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ) and Old English six.^[1][6] The ordinal ἕκτος (héktos) probably comes from *sweḱ-tos, since a form with -s- would have given ⟨χθ⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, meaning “six”.^[3][7] Mycenaean has it only in the compound Mycenaean Greek we-pe-za.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The numeral is indeclinable, though an inscription from Axum has a dative plural ἑξάσιν.^[3] As a noun τὸ ἕξ was the six on the knucklebones used as dice.^[3] In compounds it appears as ἑξα- (after ἑπτα- and τετρα-), as in ἑξακόσιοι (hexakósioi), and in ἑξήκοντα (hexḗkonta) “sixty”.^[2]

Medieval Greek added a final vowel, giving Modern Greek έξι (éxi): Triantafyllidis attributes it to εξήμισι “six and a half”, Babiniotis perhaps to είκοσι “twenty”.^[8][4][9] English hexa- comes from the Greek combining form.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for “six”.^[3][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it.^[7][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Rufus uses τὸ ἕξ for the six on the dice.^[3][6]
• Medieval Greek – It takes a final vowel and becomes έξι (éxi).^[8][4]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Six.^[3][11]

Noun

1. The six on the knucklebones used as dice.^[3]

Word family

• ἕκτος (héktos)
• ἑξάκις (hexákis)
• ἑξήκοντα (hexḗkonta)
• ἑξακόσιοι (hexakósioi)
• ἑξάς (hexás)
• ἑξάμετρος (hexámetros)

Related words

• Latin sex
• English six
• English hexa-

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 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press