ὑδρία

Forms

ῠ̔δρῐ́ᾱ (hudríā) f (genitive ῠ̔δρῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) + -ία (-íā), from the r-stem of ὕδωρ (hū́dōr, “water”) that is also seen in ὕδρα (húdrā, “water snake”) and ἄνυδρος (ánudros, “waterless”); the Etymologicum Magnum explains it as a vessel suited for water.^[1][2][3][4] NIL analyses it as *ud-r-i̯ah₂-.^[5]

The word for water itself is the old Indo-European word for water, with a stem in r and one in n; cognate with Hittite 𒉿𒀀𒋻 (wātar), Sanskrit उदन् (udán) and Old English wæter.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 5th century BC: a Locrian law inscription uses it of a voting urn, and Aristophanes of water-pitchers carried by women and of pots in which money was hidden.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Classical Attic used it for the water-jar and, by extension, for any jar: for wine, for hoarded money, for the votes in a lawcourt (Isocrates), and as a bronze, silver or gold vessel dedicated in temples.^[6][7] Polybius and Plutarch use it of the urn holding a dead man's ashes, and Sextus Empiricus of a water clock.^[6][7] Aristotle quotes a proverb about it (see Usage notes).^[6]

In the Septuagint it is Rebecca's water jar at the well, and the pitcher broken at the fountain in Ecclesiastes; in the Gospel of John it names the stone jars at Cana and the jar the Samaritan woman leaves at the well.^[6][9] A 6th-century papyrus uses it of bread-pans.^[6] Latin borrowed it as hydria, and Coptic as ϩⲩⲇⲣⲓⲁ (hudria).^[10][11]

Archaeologists use the name for a water jar with three handles, two at the sides for lifting and one at the back for pouring; the shape goes back to Early Helladic pottery, and in the 6th century BC it began to be made in bronze and silver as well.^[12][13] Modern Greek υδρία (ydría) is a learned archaeological term.^[14][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – A Locrian law inscription uses it of a voting urn.^[6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of water-pitchers and of pots of money, and Isocrates of a voting urn.^{[6][7][8][15]}
• 4th century BC – Aristotle quotes the proverb of the pitcher at the door.^[6][7][15]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a funeral urn.^[7][15]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of John uses it of the stone water jars at Cana.^[9][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of an urn for ashes and of a voting urn.^[6][7][15]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Sextus Empiricus uses it of a water clock.^[6][15]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus from Oxyrhynchus uses it of bread-pans.^[6]
• 875 – The first dated Coptic manuscript with the loanword Coptic ϩⲩⲇⲣⲓⲁ (hudria) is written.^[11]
• Modern Greek – υδρία (ydría) is a learned term for the three-handled water jar of archaeology.^[14][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A water jar or pitcher.^[6][7][9]
2. Any jar or pot: for wine, for hoarded money, for bread; also a metal vessel dedicated in a temple.^[6][7]
3. A voting urn, especially in the lawcourts.^[6][7]
4. A cinerary urn.^[6][7]
5. A water clock.^[6]

Word family

• ὑδριαφόρος (hudriaphóros)
• ὑδρίσκη (hudrískē)

Related words

• ὕδωρ (hū́dōr)
• ὕδρα (húdrā)
• Latin hydria

Usage notes

Aristotle quotes the proverb “ἐπὶ θύραις τὴν ὑδρίαν” (“the pitcher at the door”), used of failing at the last moment, like a water carrier who breaks the jar on the doorstep.^[6][7] Aristophanes uses κάλπις (kálpis) and ὑδρία of the same vessel; the distinction that writers on vases draw between the hydria and the rounder calpis is a modern convention.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
13. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
14. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
15. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge