ὁλκός

Forms

ὁλκός (holkós) m (feminine ὁλκή, neuter ὁλκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun from Ancient Greek ἕλκω (hélkō, “to draw, drag”), with the o-grade of the root, like ὁλκή (holkḗ, “dragging”).^[2][3] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to pull, drag”).^[1]

The noun corresponds in form to Latin sulcus (“furrow”) and is cognate with Old English sulh (“furrow, plough”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus uses it for the machine that hauled ships on land, probably a fixed capstan or windlass, and Euripides has it in the same sense.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Thucydides uses it for the movable engines that dragged ships across the Isthmus of Corinth, and Herodotus and Euripides for slipways for launching ships.^[4][5] From the thing that drags came the trace that dragging leaves: a furrow, the groove a chisel leaves in wood (Aristophanes), the track of a dragged log (Xenophon).^[4][5] Sophocles uses it for the reins of a chariot.^[4][3]

Hellenistic poetry widened the sense: in Apollonius of Rhodes it is a furrow, a ditch, the wake of oars and the trail of a star or meteor, and in Nicander the coils and coiling movement of a snake.^[4][5] Late writers use it for an aqueduct, Dioscorides for a kind of spider, and Pliny for a grass, which was taken over as Latin holcus.^[4][1] The word lives on as Modern Greek ολκός (olkós).^[3]

The adjective of the same spelling, “drawing to oneself”, is used by Plato of studies that draw the soul towards truth.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a hauling engine and a slipway for ships, and Thucydides for the engines that hauled ships across the Isthmus.^[4][5][6]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for the reins of a chariot.^[4][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for the groove left by a chisel, and Plato has the adjective of studies that draw the soul.^[4][5][6]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it for a furrow, a channel and the trail of a star.^[4][6]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it of the coils of a snake.^[4][6]
• 6th century AD – John Lydus uses it for an aqueduct.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A machine for hauling ships on land, probably a fixed capstan or windlass; also a movable hauling engine.^[4]
2. A slipway for launching and beaching ships.^[5]
3. A strap or rein.^[4]
4. A furrow, track or trace; the groove left by a tool; the path of a star or meteor.^[4][5]
5. A ditch or channel; an aqueduct.^[4]
6. The coils or coiling movement of a snake; a coil of hair.^[4]
7. A kind of spider.^[4]
8. A kind of grass, mouse-barley.^[4]

Adjective

1. Drawing to oneself, attractive: of studies that draw the soul towards truth.^[4][5]
2. Trailing.^[4]

Related words

• ἕλκω (hélkō)
• ὁλκή (holkḗ)
• Latin sulcus
• Latin holcus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge