ἴτυς

Forms

ῐ̓́τῠς (ítus) f (genitive ῐ̓́τῠος); third declension^[1] Aeolic ϝίτυς (grammarians).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wítus,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- (“to twist, twine”), with the suffix *-tus.^[2][1] The Aeolic form ϝίτυς (wítus) recorded by the grammarians proves the connection with ἰτέα (ītéā, “willow”), οἶσος (oîsos, “withy”) and ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”), so the word first meant “bend, curve”, perhaps of willow wood first.^[2][4] The verb behind it survives in Latin vieō (“to bind, twist”) and Lithuanian výti (“to twist, wind”).^[2][4]

It matches vitus (“felloe”) exactly, but the Latin word is more likely a loan from Greek.^[2] Derivatives in ⟨-tu-⟩ are also found in Balto-Slavic, as in Old Prussian witwan (“willow”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it occurs only in the Iliad, always for the felloe of a wheel: a felloe is bent from poplar wood (4.486), and the word recurs at 5.724.^[3][5] Cunliffe notes that the felloe was apparently once made of willow.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod's Shield and Herodotus use it for the rim of a shield, and Tyrtaeus, Euripides and Xenophon for the round shield itself.^[3][6] Later writers use it of other curved edges: the arch of the eyebrows in the Anacreontea, the bend of a fish-hook in the Greek Anthology, and, in Galen, the border of a rib, the rim of a joint socket and the guard of a trepan.^[3] A 6th-century AD papyrus still uses it for the rim of a wheel.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the felloe of a wheel.^[3][5]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Shield uses it for the rim of a shield.^[3][7]
• 7th century BC – Tyrtaeus uses it for the shield itself.^[3][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the rim of a shield.^[3][7]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for the border of a rib and the rim of a joint socket.^[3][7]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus uses it for the rim of a wheel.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The felloe or rim of a wheel (or perhaps one of its jointed sections).^[6][3]
2. The rim of a shield.^[6][3]
3. A round shield.^[6][3]
4. Any curved edge: the arch of the eyebrows, the bend of a fish-hook; in anatomy, the border of a rib, the rim of a joint socket.^[3]

Related words

• ἰτέα (ītéā)
• οἶσος (oîsos)
• ἶρις (îris)
• Latin vieō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge