Etymologically
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ἕτερος

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

ἕτερος (héteros) m (feminine ἑτέρᾱ, neuter ἕτερον); first/second declension[1] Doric and Aeolic ἅτερος (háteros), also Attic in crasis: ᾱ̔́τερος (hā́teros), θάτερον (tháteron).[2][3] Mycenaean Greek a2-te-ro /hateros/.[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥-teros (“one of two”), the zero grade of *sem- (“one”) (as in εἷς (heîs) and ἅπαξ (hápax)) with the contrastive suffix *-teros of ἀριστερός (aristerós) and the comparatives.[2][1][4] The original vowel is kept in Doric and Aeolic ἅτερος (háteros) and in Mycenaean; the ε of ἕτερος is probably due to εἷς (heîs) or to the pronoun ἕ (hé) rather than to vowel assimilation.[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit एकतर (ekatará, “one of two”), built on एक (éka, “one”), and probably with the Celtic word for “half”, Breton hanter.[2][1] Gonda also connected the Germanic group of Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō, “apart”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Mycenaean as Mycenaean Greek a2-te-ro.[2] In Homer it means one of two (“with one hand”, “lame in one foot”), the other of two, and, repeated, “the one … the other”.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word is essentially dual: in Homer and Classical Greek it refers to one or the other of a pair, or of two groups, and in a sequence to the second.[3][5] From there it widened to “another” out of any number and to “different”, “of another kind”;[3] Pindar and Callimachus use it euphemistically for a bad fortune, “different” from good.[3] With a negative it formed οὐδέτερος (oudéteros, “neither”) and μηδέτερος (mēdéteros), and over a hundred compounds such as ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs).[7][2] Chantraine notes that it became rare in late Greek, where its strict dual use broke down.[7]

Modern Greek έτερος (éteros) is a learned word for “other”.[8] The English combining form hetero- comes from it.[9]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean – The tablets have Mycenaean Greek a2-te-ro.[2]
  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of one of two and the other of two.[5][6]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of a different or further thing.[3][10]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Euripides use it of one of two gates or fates.[3][10]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek έτερος (éteros) survives as a learned word.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. One or other of two, one of a pair.[3][5]
  2. The other of two; repeated, the one … the other.[3][5]
  3. In a sequence, the next, the second.[3]
  4. Other, further, with demonstratives or numerals.[3]
  5. Another, out of an indefinite number.[3]
  6. Of another kind, different.[3]
  7. (euphemistic) Different from good, adverse.[3]

Word family

  • ἑτεραλκής (heteralkḗs)
  • μηδέτερος (mēdéteros)
  • οὐδέτερος (oudéteros)
  • ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs)
  • ἑτεροῖος (heteroîos)
  • ἑτερότης (heterótēs)
  • εἷς (heîs)
  • ἅπαξ (hápax)
  • English hetero-

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  5. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  6. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge