ἧλος

Forms

ἧλος (hêlos) m (genitive ἥλου); second declension^[1] Doric ἇλος (Epidaurus, Delphi, Pindar); perhaps Aeolic ϝάλλοι (plural), written γάλλοι in Hesychius.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[3] Hesychius' gloss γάλλοι (gálloi), explained as “nails”, may stand for an Aeolic ϝάλλοι (wálloi), so ἧλος may come from *ϝάλνος (*wálnos) or *ϝάλσος (*wálsos) and could be the same word as Latin vallus (“stake of a palisade”), as Wackernagel proposed and Schrijver still holds;^[3][4] if so, it is from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn”).^[1] Frisk notes that the difference in meaning remains a difficulty.^[4] There is no certain trace of the digamma in Homer, since the compound ἀργυρόηλος (arguróēlos, “silver-studded”) may be shaped by the metre.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is an ornamental nail-head or stud: the Iliad has a sceptre studded with golden nails (1.246), and golden studs on a sword (11.29) and on a cup (11.633).^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

After Homer it is any nail: Pindar has the Doric form, Xenophon iron and wooden spikes in a trap, Aristophanes nails used to tighten bonds, and Theophrastus hobnails on a shoe.^[2][6] Plato uses it too.^[6][7] From its shape it came to mean a wart or callus, in Theophrastus, Nicander and Dioscorides, and an excrescence on plants.^[2] The Placita uses it of the stars.^[2]

In the New Testament it is used of the nails of the crucifixion and the marks they left (John 20:25).^[8] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for a nail, a swelling and a callus.^[9] Modern Greek uses ήλος as a learned word for a nail, as in the phrase “to put one's finger in the print of the nails”.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for golden studs on a sceptre, a sword and a cup.^[2][5]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the Doric form ἇλος for a nail.^[2][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for iron and wooden spikes.^[2][6][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle quotes the proverb “nail by nail”.^[2][6][11]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for hobnails and for a wart.^[2][11]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of John uses it for the nails of the crucifixion.^[8]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for a nail.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nail-head or stud, as an ornament on a sword, cup or staff.^[6][2]
2. A nail, rivet or peg; a spike; a hobnail.^[6][2]
3. (medicine) A wart or callus; an excrescence on plants.^[2]

Word family

• ἀργυρόηλος (arguróēlos)
• ἡλάριον (hēlárion)
• ἡλίσκος (hēlískos)
• ἡλίτης (hēlítēs)
• ἡλῖτις (hēlîtis)
• ἡλόω (hēlóō)

Related words

• Latin vallus

Usage notes

The proverb ἥλῳ ὁ ἧλος, “a nail by a nail”, meaning that one thing is driven out by another of its kind, is quoted by Aristotle and Lucian.^[6][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge