Etymologically
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ὀδούς

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /o.dǔːs/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /oˈðus/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /oˈðus/[1]

Forms

ὀδούς (odoús) m (genitive ὀδόντος); third declension[1] Ionic ὀδών (odṓn), the older nominative.[2][3] Aeolic plural ἔδοντες (édontes) in two late grammarians.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *odónts,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”).[2][1] The nominative ὀδούς is younger than Ionic ὀδών (odṓn), perhaps remodelled after the participle διδούς (didoús).[2] This stem matches Sanskrit दत् (dát), Lithuanian dantìs and Old High German zan(d); the zero grade *h₃dn̥t- is found in Latin dēns, and Sanskrit still shows the old ablaut in its paradigm.[2][1] Old English tōþ, the ancestor of English tooth, is a cognate.[1]

The Aeolic form ἔδοντες (édontes) once led scholars to reconstruct *h₁d-ónt-, “the eating one”, from the root of ἔδω (édō) “eat”.[2][4] Beekes rejects this: the Aeolic form is poorly attested, the initial ὀ- matches the Armenian word for “tooth”, and νωδός (nōdós) “toothless” requires *n̥-h₃d-o-; he takes the root to be Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to bite”), seen also in Lithuanian úodas (“gnat”) and in ὀδύνη (odúnē) “pain”.[2] Some find the zero grade in Mycenaean Greek o-da-twe-ta, “(wheels) with teeth”, but this is uncertain.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for the teeth of men and the tusks of boars.[5][3] LSJ notes the phrase ἕρκος ὀδόντων, the “fence of the teeth”.[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides human teeth it meant the fang of a beast, the tusk of a boar or an elephant, and ivory (Herodotus).[5] Aristotle distinguishes the sharp incisors from the broad molars.[3] Anything pointed could be a “tooth”: the teeth of a saw (Aristotle), of a comb, of a cogwheel (Hero), and in the Septuagint a ploughshare and a jagged peak of rock.[3] The Hippocratic writers used it for the second vertebra of the neck, from its shape.[3][1] Figuratively Achilles Tatius speaks of the “tooth of grief”.[3] The New Testament has the “gnashing of teeth” of the damned, and “a tooth for a tooth” from the Law.[7]

Modern Greek δόντι (dónti) comes from medieval δόντι(ο)ν, Hellenistic ὀδόντιον (odóntion), the diminutive of the ancient word, with loss of the unstressed initial vowel.[8][9] The ancient form survives as the learned Modern Greek οδούς (odoús).[8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for teeth and tusks.[3][5]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for elephant tusks, Hippocratic writers for a neck vertebra.[5][3][10]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes incisors from molars and speaks of the teeth of a saw.[3][10]
  • 1st century AD – The Gospels speak of the gnashing of teeth.[7]
  • 2nd century AD – Achilles Tatius speaks of the tooth of grief.[3][10]
  • Medieval Greek – The diminutive δόντι(ο)ν appears, the ancestor of Modern Greek δόντι (dónti).[8][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tooth.[3][5]
  2. A fang or tusk; elephant's tusk, ivory.[5]
  3. (figurative) A sting, as the “tooth” of grief or desire.[3]
  4. Anything pointed: a prong, the teeth of a saw, comb or cogwheel; a ploughshare; a peak of rock.[3]
  5. (anatomy) The second vertebra of the neck.[3]

Word family

  • κυνόδους (kunódous)
  • νωδός (nōdós)
  • τριόδους (triódous)
  • ὀδοντάγρα (odontágrā)
  • ὀδοντικός (odontikós)
  • ὀδοντόω (odontóō)
  • ὀδύνη (odúnē)
  • Latin dēns

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge