ῥάδιξ

Forms

ῥᾱ́δῑξ (rhā́dīx) m (genitive ῥᾱ́δῑκος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek.^[2] It matches Latin rādīx “root” in form if both go back to Proto-Indo-European *wrād-, and Latin rāmus “branch, twig” is closer in sense; but the related ῥάδαμνος (rhádamnos) “shoot” has a short vowel that an Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *urh₂d- could not give, and he takes this variation between a short and a long vowel as a sign of a non-Indo-European word.^[2]

Chantraine counts this whole group among popular terms with varying forms.^[3] ῥάδιξ has a suffix common in plant names, as in σπάδιξ (spā́dīx) and σκόνδιξ (skóndix), and corresponds exactly to the Latin word, though the sense differs,^[3] and he reconstructs a root *wrā-d- alternating with a short-vowelled form and thinks a link with ῥίζα (rhíza) “root” plausible despite the vowels.^[3] He rejects, with Belardi, Alessio's view that these are “Mediterranean” words.^[3] Wiktionary and Pokorny derive it from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”).^[1][4]

Cognate, on that view, with Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐍃 (waurts) “root”, Old Norse rót “root” and Old English wyrt “herb, plant”.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in Nicander's Theriaca, meaning a branch or twig.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word of learned poetry and prose: Nicander uses it several times for branches in his poems on poisons and antidotes, and Diodorus Siculus for the fronds of the palm.^[5][6] Scarborough's database rates its Pre-Greek character as of low reliability.^[7]

Modern Greek ραδίκι (radíki) “chicory, dandelion” is not its descendant: it is a medieval borrowing of Italian radicchio.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it for a branch in the Theriaca and Alexipharmaca.^[5][10]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus uses it for palm fronds.^[5][10]
• 2nd century AD – Phrynichus records it in his Sophistic Preparation.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A branch, twig.^[5][2]
2. (of the palm) A frond.^[5]

Related words

• ῥάδαμνος (rhádamnos)
• ῥίζα (rhíza)
• Latin radix
• Latin ramus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge