ὀμίχλη

Forms

ὀμῐ́χλη (omíkhlē) f (genitive ὀμῐ́χλης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *omíkʰlā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃migʰleh₂ (“fog”), with the suffix of νεφέλη (nephélē).^[1][2][3] It is identical with the Balto-Slavic word for fog, Lithuanian miglà and Old Church Slavonic мъгла (mŭgla).^[2][3][4] Beside this l-formation stand a root noun with zero grade, Sanskrit मिह् (míh-, “mist”), and a full-grade o-stem, Sanskrit मेघ (meghá-, “cloud”); Old Armenian մէգ (mēg, “mist, fog”) probably belongs here too.^[2][3][1] Frisk explains the initial ὀ- as a prothetic vowel, while Beekes, who reconstructs a laryngeal Proto-Indo-European *h₃-, sees in Armenian the regular loss of that laryngeal before m.^[3][2]

Some scholars connect it with ὀμείχω (omeíkhō, “to urinate”), but that verb has a palatal /ǵʰ/, which Indo-Iranian excludes for this word, and Frisk and Beekes keep them apart.^[2][3][5] The Attic form is ὁμίχλη (homíkhlē), with a rough breathing that the ancient grammarians condemned.^[1][5][6]

Ancient writers explained it as a “mist of the eyes”, from ὄμμα (ómma) and ἀχλύς (akhlús), or from ὁμοῦ (homoû), “together”, because the clouds whirl in one place.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has it only in the Iliad, for a mist that the south wind spreads over the mountain tops, for Thetis rising from the sea like a mist, and for a cloud of dust.^[6][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Aeschylus' Prometheus a mist full of tears falls on the eyes, and Aristophanes personifies Mist and uses it figuratively for what hides wrongdoing.^[6][9] Xenophon and Polybius use it of fog on a march or a battlefield, and Aristotle defines it as thinner than a cloud.^[6][10] Later poets used it for the gloom of night, and a comic poet for the steam of cooking.^[6]

Medieval Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek has ομίχλη (omíchli), fog.^[11][12][7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for mist on the mountains and for a cloud of dust.^[6][8][10]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the form ὁμίχλα for a mist of tears.^[6][9][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes personifies Mist in the Clouds.^[9][6][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for fog during a march.^[6][13]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes it from the thicker cloud.^[6][13]
• Modern Greek – It survives as ομίχλη (omíchli), fog.^[12][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mist, fog, especially from the sea or over mountains.^[6][9]
2. A cloud of dust.^[9][8]
3. A mist before the eyes, from tears.^[6][9]
4. (figurative) Gloom, darkness; obscurity that hides wrongdoing.^[6][9]
5. The steam of cooking.^[6]

Word family

• ὀμιχλώδης (omikhlṓdēs)

Related words

• ἀμιχθαλόεις (amikhthalóeis)
• ἀχλύς (akhlús)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge