ἱδρώς

Forms

ῑ̆̔δρώς (hīdrṓs) m (genitive ῐ̔δρῶτος or ῑ̔δρόος or ῑ̔δροῦς); third declension^[1] Homer has the dative ἱδρῷ and the accusative ἱδρῶ.^[2][3] Sappho uses it as a feminine.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is from the root Proto-Indo-European *sweyd- (“to sweat”), as are ἰδίω (īdī́ō, “to sweat”) and ἶδος (îdos).^[5][1] Beekes explains it as an /r/-stem *swid-r-, seen in Old Armenian քիրտն (kʻirtn, “sweat”), Latvian sviêdri and Albanian djersë (“sweat”), combined with a stem in /-ōs-/ that may also be found in Latin sūdor (“sweat”).^[5][1] Like γέλως (gélōs) and ἔρως (érōs), it was later turned into a stem in /-t-/,^[5] and the old /s/-stem survives in the Homeric accusative and in derivatives such as ἱδρόω (hidróō, “to sweat”).^[5] Homer shows no trace of the initial /w/.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is sweat, of warriors in battle and of men at work; in the Odyssey it pours down from the limbs.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod made sweat the sign of toil, saying that the gods set sweat before excellence, and Xenophon and Aristophanes use it in the same figurative way.^[2][4] The plural is used in medicine by Hippocrates and Aristotle, and Plato speaks of dry sweats, as against the effect of baths.^[2] By extension it named the gum or resin that trees exude, in Euripides of myrrh used as incense.^[2][4] In the New Testament it is used in Luke 22:44.^[6]

Medieval Greek made a new nominative Byzantine Greek ιδρώτας (idrótas) from the accusative ἱδρῶτα, which Modern Greek keeps as ιδρώτας (idrótas); the verb ιδρώνω (idróno) continues ἱδρόω.^[7][8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the sweat of warriors and workers.^[3][9]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod makes sweat the price of excellence.^[2][10]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for resin used as incense.^[2][4][10]
• Koine – The Gospel of Luke uses it for sweat.^[6]
• Medieval Greek – A new nominative ιδρώτας appears.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek ιδρώτας (idrótas).^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sweat, perspiration, from work or emotion.^[2][4]
2. (figurative) Hard work, toil, or its results.^[2][4]
3. The gum or resin that trees exude.^[2][4]

Word family

• ἱδρόω (hidróō)

Related words

• ἰδίω (īdī́ō)
• Latin sūdor

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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
4. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge