Etymologically
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ὄμβρος

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /óm.bros/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈom.bros/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈom.bros/[1]

Forms

ὄμβρος (ómbros) m (genitive ὄμβρου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It has no good etymology.[2] It is often compared with Latin imber (“rain shower”) and Sanskrit अभ्र (abhrá, “cloud”), assuming an old r-stem beside the s-stem of Sanskrit अम्भस् (ámbhas, “water, rainwater”).[2][1] Chantraine allowed that β might continue an aspirate after a nasal,[3] but Beekes holds that this is wrong.[2] Kroonen derives the Latin and Sanskrit words from the paradigm of Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ-, the root of νέφος (néphos) and νεφέλη (nephélē), which has an aspirate, so that ὄμβρος cannot belong with them, and neither can Old Armenian ամբ (amb, “cloud”).[2] Wiktionary adds that Proto-Indo-European *n̥bʰrós would be expected to give Greek /a/ and /pʰ/.[1] Szemerényi assumed a loanword, so it may be Pre-Greek.[2][1] Babiniotis still sets up an Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *embʰ- (“rain”).[4] The Mycenaean o-mi-ri-jo may be related, but its reading is uncertain.[1][4]

Ancient etymologists derived it from ὁμοῦ (homoû, “together”) and ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow”) (Orion, the Etymologicum Magnum), or from βάρος (báros, “weight”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is a storm of rain sent by Zeus, a thunderstorm that swells the torrents.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Alcaeus uses it of a storm at sea, Herodotus of heavy rain, and in the plural it means “rains”.[6] The De Mundo ascribed to Aristotle distinguishes it from ordinary rain, ὑετός (huetós).[6] Empedocles and Sophocles use it for water as an element, and poets of a river or the sea.[6][7] Pindar and Aeschylus make it a figure for a time of slaughter.[7][6] In Ptolemaic papyri it is flood water, and Oppian uses it for urine.[6]

In the New Testament it is a rainstorm.[8] Modern Greek όμβρος (ómvros) is a learned word for a downpour.[9][4] Italian learned words in ombro- come from it.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for a rainstorm sent by Zeus.[6][7]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it of a storm at sea.[6][11]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it figuratively of battle.[6][7][11]
  • 5th century BC – Empedocles uses it for water as an element, and Herodotus for heavy rain.[6][7][11]
  • 3rd century BC – Papyri use it for flood water.[6]
  • 1st century AD – Luke's Gospel uses it for a rainstorm.[8]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word.[9][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A rainstorm, thunderstorm, heavy rain; in the plural, rains.[6][7][2]
  2. (figurative) A storm of battle or slaughter; a shower of blood.[6][7]
  3. Water, as an element; the water of a river or of the sea.[6][7]
  4. Flood water, an inundation (in papyri).[6]
  5. Urine (in Oppian).[6]

Word family

  • ἔπομβρος (épombros)
  • ὀμβρέω (ombréō)
  • ὀμβρηρός (ombrērós)
  • ὄμβριος (ómbrios)
  • ὀμβροκτύπος (ombroktúpos)
  • ὀμβροφόρος (ombrophóros)
  • φέρομβρον (phérombron)
  • ὑετός (huetós)
  • Latin imber

Usage notes

Hesychius records a different ὄμβρος, glossed as “piglet”, which LSJ compares with ὄβρια (óbria).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
  11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge