ὄκρις

Forms

ὄκρῐς (ókris) f (genitive ὄκρῐος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ókris,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óḱris (“sharp edge, corner”), an o-grade with the suffix *-ri- from the root *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) of ἄκρος (ákros).^[2][1] It is identical with Latin ocris (“stony mountain”), and cognate with Umbrian ukar (“citadel, mountain”), Middle Irish ochair (“edge, border”) and Sanskrit अश्रि (áśri, “corner, sharp edge”).^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun itself first appears in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, as an adjective “rugged” describing a ravine.^[3][2] In the Hippocratic treatise On Joints it is a jagged point or roughness, such as the edge of a broken bone.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word itself is rare, but its family is older: Homer has ὀκριόεις (okrióeis, “jagged, sharp-edged”), and the Odyssey the verb ὀκριάομαι (okriáomai) “to grow fierce with one another”.^[2] Sophocles used ὀκριάζω (okriázō) for being harsh or bitter.^[2] The compound ὀκρίβας (okríbas), properly “walking on the top”, was a raised platform or stage in Plato.^[2] Furnée took it as Pre-Greek, but Beekes finds no sufficient reason.^[2]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it as an adjective of a rugged ravine.^[3]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic corpus uses it for a jagged point on a broken bone.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A jagged point or projection; any roughness on an edge or surface, as on a broken bone.^[3][2]

Adjective

1. Rugged, jagged (of a ravine).^[3][2]

Word family

• ὀκριόεις (okrióeis)
• ὀκρίς (okrís)
• ὀκρίβας (okríbas)

Related words

• ἄκρος (ákros)
• Latin ocris

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press