ὕρχη

Forms

ῠ̔́ρχη (húrkhē) f (genitive ῠ̔́ρχης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, a technical word that ancient grammarians such as Pollux called Aeolic.^[2][3][4] It has close parallels in Latin orca (“large-bellied jar, tun”), from which urceus (“pitcher”) was made, and perhaps urna (“water jar, urn”).^[2][5] Beekes allows that the Latin words were taken from Greek, but he, Frisk and Chantraine prefer to see Greek and Latin borrowing the word separately from a Mediterranean language.^[2][6][5] The PHILOGLOSSA database rates this account as of medium reliability.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Aristophanes' Wasps (5th century BC), of an earthenware jar for salted fish.^[8][9][4]

Semantic evolution

Aristophanes also used it of a jar of wine, in a fragment that Pollux quotes, and Hellenistic papyri of the 3rd century BC list jars of salted fish.^[4][9] Hesychius glosses an unaspirated form ὔρχη (úrkhē) as something on which sailors carry their loads.^[4] A 6th-century BC inscription from Delphi may contain the word as well.^[4]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of a jar for salted fish, and in a fragment of a jar of wine.^[8][4]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri list jars of salted fish.^[4][7]
• 2nd century AD – Pollux describes it and calls it Aeolic.^[4][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An earthenware jar for pickled or salted fish, a transport jar.^[8][9]
2. A jar of wine.^[9][4]

Related words

• Latin orca
• Latin urceus
• Latin urna

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
10. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg