ὅρμος
ὅρμος1 chain, necklace
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /hór.mos/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈor.mos/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈor.mos/[1]
Forms
ὅρμος (hórmos) m (genitive ὅρμου); second declension[1]
Etymology
The chain is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sór-mos, an old thematic noun with the suffix *-mo- and the o-grade of the root of εἴρω (eírō, “to string”).[2][3][1] Wiktionary traces it to *ser- (“to bind”), the root of Latin serō (“to bind”) and Proto-Germanic *sarwą (“armour”).[1] Martirosyan connects Old Armenian որմ (orm, “wall”), which Beekes finds formally impeccable.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
In Homer it is a chain worn round the neck, a necklace; the Odyssey mentions necklaces of gold and electrum.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
Pindar uses it for anything strung like a necklace, a wreath or chaplet, and for a string of crowns, that is, of praises.[5][6] Lucian names with it a ring dance in which youths and maidens alternate.[5][2] Hesychius records the plural for sandal straps.[5]
Its derivatives include ὁρμίσκος (hormískos), a small necklace (Attic inscriptions, the Septuagint), ὁρμιά (hormiá), a fishing line, and ὁρμαθός (hormathós), a string or chain.[2] Medieval vernacular Greek still used it for a necklace.[7]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a necklace.[4][5]
- Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for necklaces.[5][8]
- 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for a wreath and a string of praises.[5][6][8]
- 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it for a ring dance.[5][8]
Meanings
Noun
- A cord or chain, especially a necklace or collar.[5][6]
- Anything strung like a necklace: a wreath, a garland.[5][6]
- A ring dance of youths and maidens in turn.[5]
Word family
- ὁρμαθός (hormathós)
- ὁρμίσκος (hormískos)
- ὁρμιά (hormiá)
ὅρμος2 anchorage, harbour
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /hór.mos/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈor.mos/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈor.mos/[1]
Forms
ὅρμος (hórmos) m (genitive ὅρμου); second declension[1]
Etymology
The anchorage has no certain etymology.[2][3] It is often connected with ὁρμή (hormḗ, “onset, impulse”), with various explanations of the meaning, such as “starting point”.[2][3] Beekes finds the link with εἴρω (eírō, “to string, attach”) more promising, starting from a meaning “mooring”, so that it would be the same word as the chain, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sór-mos.[2][3][6] A comparison with ἕρμα (hérma, “prop”) has also been proposed.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad it is a mooring place, distinguished from the harbour (λιμήν (limḗn)) at Il. 1.435.[9][4][5]
Semantic evolution
Aeschylus and Attic inscriptions use it for the inner part of a harbour where ships lie, and Euripides and the epigrammatists for a haven or refuge; one poem calls old age the haven of ills.[5][6] Xenophon uses the plural for the haunts of game, or perhaps for the points where hunting nets were fixed.[5][6]
The verbs ὁρμέω (horméō) “to lie at anchor” and ὁρμίζω (hormízō) “to bring to anchor” are formed from it, and the papyri have ὁρμοφύλαξ (hormophúlax), a harbour guard.[2][9] The compound πάνορμος (pánormos), “offering anchorage to all”, is an epithet of harbours in the Odyssey and a place name, the old name of Palermo.[2][9]
Medieval vernacular Greek used it figuratively for a harbour or refuge.[7] Modern Greek όρμος (órmos), a learned form, is a small bay where ships can anchor.[10]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad uses it for a mooring place.[4][5]
- 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the inner part of a harbour.[5][8]
- 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for a haven or refuge.[5][6][8]
- 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses the plural for the haunts of game.[5][6][8]
- Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek όρμος (órmos) names a small bay for anchoring.[10]
Meanings
Noun
- A roadstead, anchorage, especially the inner part of a harbour where ships lie; a mooring.[5][6]
- (figurative) A haven, a place of refuge.[5][6]
- (plural) The haunts of game, or perhaps the fixing points of hunting nets.[5][6]
- A means of mooring, an attachment.[5]
Word family
- ὁρμέω (horméō)
- ὁρμίζω (hormízō)
- ὁρμοφύλαξ (hormophúlax)
- πάνορμος (pánormos)
- ἔφορμος (éphormos)
Usage notes
Some ancient grammarians, as Eustathius reports, kept the two words apart by accent, writing the necklace with an acute on the last syllable.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
- ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
- ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki