ὀπός

Forms

ὀπός (opós) m (genitive ὀποῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷos (“juice, resin”), with the Ionic loss of /h/ (psilosis) from an earlier *ὁπός (*hopós).^[2][3][1] It matches a Balto-Slavic word for plant juice, Old Church Slavonic сокъ (sokŭ, “juice”) and Lithuanian sakaĩ (“resin”) (plural), and a by-form with an extra /w/ after the /s/ gives Lithuanian svekas (“resin”).^[2][3] Albanian gjak (“blood”) may be related.^[2][3] Latin sūcus (“juice”), probably from *souko- or *seuko-, is clearly different.^[2][3]

Ancient writers derived it from ἔπειμι (épeimi, “to be present”), because the sap is there when the wood is cut, and called it the tears of trees.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is the juice of the fig tree, which curdles milk (Il. 5.902).^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Empedocles, the Hippocratic writers and Aristotle use it for the fig juice used as rennet.^[5] It is properly the milky juice drawn from a plant by tapping, distinct from χυλός (khulós) and χυμός (khumós): Sophocles speaks of it dripping from an incision into jars, and Theophrastus of plant saps.^[5] Plato uses it for any acid juice, and Aristophanes' phrase “to look sap” meant to look sour.^[5] The Hippocratic writers used it for silphium juice, and Athenaeus for gravy.^[5] A poem of the Greek Anthology speaks of the fresh juice of youth, opposed to wrinkles.^[5]

Its diminutive ὄπιον (ópion), poppy juice, passed through Latin into English as opium.^[6] Modern Greek οπός (opós) is a learned word for juice.^[7][8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for fig juice curdling milk.^[5][2]
• 5th century BC – Empedocles uses it for fig juice as rennet.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writers use it for silphium juice.^[5][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses “to look sap” for looking sour.^[5][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle writes about fig juice as rennet.^[5][9]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus uses it for gravy.^[5][9]
• Late 14th century – English borrows opium through Latin from its diminutive.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Vegetable juice, sap, especially the milky juice drawn from a plant by tapping.^[5][2]
2. Especially the juice of the fig tree, used as rennet to curdle milk.^[5][2]
3. Any acid juice.^[5]
4. The juice or seed of silphium.^[5]
5. Gravy.^[5]
6. (figurative) The fresh juiciness of youth.^[5]

Word family

• ὄπιον (ópion)
• ὀποβάλσαμον (opobálsamon)
• ὀποπάναξ (opopánax)

Related words

• English opium

Usage notes

The same spelling is also the genitive of ὄψ (óps) “voice”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge