Etymologically
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ὕδωρ

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /hy̌ː.dɔːr/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈy.ðor/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈy.ðor/[1]

Forms

ῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū́dōr) n (genitive ῡ̆̔́δᾰτος); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *údōr, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ (“water”), the old heteroclite noun with genitive *wednós, from the root *wed- (“to well up, be wet”).[1][2] The /ō/ of the nominative was taken from the plural.[1] Greek extended the /n/-stem of the oblique cases with a /t/: the genitive ὕδατος (húdatos) is from *ud-n̥-t-.[3] Mycenaean has Mycenaean Greek u-do, most likely this word, and u-do-ro, a bucket-shaped pot.[2][4]

Cognate with Umbrian utur (“water”), Hittite wātar (“water”), Sanskrit उदन् (udán, “water”), Latin unda (“wave”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō, “water”), Old Church Slavonic вода (voda, “water”) and Old English wæter (“water”).[3][1] The same root gives ὕω (hū́ō, “to rain”).[1]

Ancient grammarians such as Apollonius Dyscolus derived it from that verb.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Linear B form Mycenaean Greek u-do on a Knossos tablet is most likely this word.[2] Homer uses it for water of every kind, for drinking and for mixing with wine (Odyssey 1.110), for the waters of rivers, and for a flood.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Homer seawater is rarely called ὕδωρ without an epithet such as “salt”.[7] Classical Greek used it for rain and rainfall, floods, springs and a water supply, and for the water of the water-clock that timed speeches in the lawcourts.[8] Earth and water were the tokens of submission demanded by the Persian king (Herodotus, the orators).[8] Philosophers counted it among the elements, and for Plato and Aristotle it was one of the four.[8]

The Septuagint uses the plural for rivers and has “children of the waters” for fishes;[9] in the New Testament it is water both as an element and in its everyday uses.[10] In Modern Greek ύδωρ is a learned word for scientific terms and set phrases (heavy water, territorial waters), while the everyday word is νερό.[11] English hydro- comes from its combining form.[12]

Timeline

  • Mycenaean – A Knossos tablet probably has the word.[2]
  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for water, rivers and floods.[6]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for rain and in “earth and water”.[8][13]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato counts it among the four elements.[8][13]
  • 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for the water-clock in court.[8][13]
  • Modern Greek – ύδωρ survives as a learned word.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Water, for drinking, washing or mixing with wine.[7][8]
  2. The water of a spring, river, lake or the sea; a stretch of water.[8]
  3. Rain, rainfall;[8] (plural) showers.[8]
  4. A flood.[8][6]
  5. Water as an element.[8]
  6. A water supply.[8]
  7. The water of a water-clock, the time allowed a speaker.[8]

Word family

  • ἀνυδρία (anudría)
  • ἄνυδρος (ánudros)
  • κλεψύδρα (klepsúdrā)
  • ὑδάτιον (hudátion)
  • ὕδρα (húdrā)
  • ὑδρεία (hudreía)
  • ὑδρηλός (hudrēlós)
  • ὑδρία (hudríā)
  • ὑδρίον (hudríon)
  • ὑδάτινος (hudátinos)
  • ὑδράργυρος (hudrárguros)
  • ὑδράρπαξ (hudrárpax)
  • ὑδραυλικός (hudraulikós)
  • ὕδραυλις (húdraulis)
  • Ὑάς (Hūás)
  • ὕδνον (húdnon)
  • ὕω (hū́ō)
  • English hydro-

Usage notes

The Hesychius gloss on the curse “may you become water and earth” explains it as “may you dissolve and die”.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
  3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  14. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)