Etymologically
Log in

ὄγδοος

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 02:14. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /óɡ.do.os/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈoɣ.ðo.os/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈoɣ.ðo.os/[1]

Forms

ὄγδοος (ógdoos) m (feminine ὀγδόη, neuter ὄγδοον); first/second declension[1]

Etymology

It is the ordinal of ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”), from an earlier *ὄγδοϝος (*ógdowos), which Old Corinthian ὀγδόϝα (ogdówa) (partly restored) shows.[2][3][4] The form is puzzling beside the cardinal for two reasons, the voiced cluster /gd/ and the suffix *-wo- that it seems to contain.[2] The voicing may be analogical after ἕβδομος (hébdomos, “seventh”), from Proto-Indo-European *septm̥-o-.[2][3][4] Sommer also considered a regressive voicing in a pre-form *oḱtu̯-o-, with an inserted -ο-.[2][3]

Nowadays one usually reconstructs *h₃eḱth₃-wo-, with the suffix *-wo- added to the form of the cardinal, *h₃eḱteh₃.[2] Rix's *h₃eḱth₃u-h₂o-, with voicing caused by the laryngeal, which later became -ο-, is an ad hoc solution according to Beekes.[2] Sihler's similar reconstruction would yield the Greek form directly and make the voicing of the word for “seventh” the analogical one, while Bičovský finds the sound changes this requires ad hoc and takes the word for a Greek innovation.[1]

The *-w- also appears in Gothic 𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌿𐌳𐌰 (ahtuda, “eighth”) and Latin octāvus (“eighth”), and perhaps in the cardinal Sanskrit अष्टौ (aṣṭáu, “eight”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Iliad has it in the sense “eighth” (Il. 7.223).[5][6] In the Odyssey the form ὄγδοον is scanned as two syllables.[5]

Semantic evolution

Homer and the poets also used a longer ordinal, ὀγδόατος (ogdóatos), with the suffix of τέταρτος (tétartos).[4] The feminine ὀγδόη (ogdóē), with “day” understood, is the eighth day of a month or of a prytany in Attic inscriptions, the orators and Plutarch.[5][7]

In the New Testament the eighth day is the day of circumcision, and 2 Peter says that Noah was saved “as the eighth”, that is, with seven others.[8] A late spelling ὄγδος appears on ostraca.[5] Coptic borrowed the word, attested from about AD 600 in Sahidic and Fayyumic.[9] It survives as Modern Greek όγδοος (ógdoos), a learned form.[10][11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for “eighth”.[5][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it.[6][12]
  • 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it in dating events.[6][12]
  • 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch dates an event to the eighth of Pyanepsion.[5][12]
  • About AD 600 – Coptic manuscripts record the borrowed word.[9]
  • Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek όγδοος (ógdoos) is the ordinal “eighth”.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Eighth.[5][7]
  2. (feminine, as a noun) The eighth day of a month.[5][7]
  3. With a person: as the eighth, that is, with seven others.[8]

Word family

  • ὀγδόατος (ogdóatos)
  • ὀγδόη (ogdóē)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  12. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge