Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 5th century BC

It is a word from Sicily, identical with Latin lībra (“balance, pound”). Wiktionary takes it as borrowed from Proto-Italic *līðrā (“ingot”), from an Italic language, perhaps through a Sicel form…

It is formed from Ancient Greek λύγος (lúgos, “withe, chaste tree”) + -ίζω (-ízō), so “to bend like a withe”. Beekes takes λύγος (lúgos) as a verbal noun, probably from Proto-Indo-European *leug-…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lewg- (“to swallow”), perhaps from a present *(s)lug-yé-ti. The verb stands beside the noun λύγξ (lúnx, “hiccup”) as ἰύζω (iúzō) stands beside ἴυγξ…

It is a neuter noun from Ancient Greek Λύκειος (Lúkeios), an epithet of Ἀπόλλων (Apóllōn), with “sanctuary” understood: the gymnasium was named after the nearby temple of Apollo Lykeios. The meaning…

The earlier history of the word is unknown. Beekes asks whether it is Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, from something like *mak-ary-, because the word looks non-Indo-European: it alternates ⟨ει⟩ with ⟨ῑ⟩…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to be moist, drip”). The present stem in -ᾰ- is old, but its formation is unclear, and the aorist μαδῆσαι (madêsai) is an innovation. With the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μαθ- (math-) + -μα (-ma), the stem of μανθάνω (manthánō, “to learn”) (aorist μαθεῖν (matheîn)) with a suffix of result nouns. All the Greek forms go back to the zero…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft”) + -ία (-íā, “abstract noun suffix”). The adjective comes from Proto-Hellenic *məlakos, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥h₂ekos, a derivative of…

It is a nursery word, from Ancient Greek μάμμα (mámma), the reduplicated baby-talk vocative. Similar words are found in many languages, among them Latin mamma (“mother, nurse, grandmother, breast”)…

The origin is unexplained. E. Fraenkel suspected that the plant was named after a person, perhaps a physician. Following Lagarde, Schrader and Nehring hesitantly compared the Persian name of the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μανία (maníā, “madness”) + -ικός (-ikós). Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk list it among the Ionic-Attic derivatives of the noun, beside μανιώδης (maniṓdēs). The noun is…

The origin is unknown. Its meaning suggests an iterative-intensive verb built on a primary present in -yō, as φυράω (phuráō) stands beside φύρω (phúrō); beside it stands a newer μασύνω (masúnō). The…

It is a familiar formation in -αξ (-ax), feminine like δέλφαξ (délphax) and πόρταξ (pórtax), built on a lost noun, perhaps *μεῖρος (*meîros) or *μεῖρα (*meîra), which the more expressive μεῖραξ…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μειόω (meióō, “to lessen, diminish”) + -σις (-sis). The verb is made from μείων (meíōn, “less, smaller”), which Beekes takes to be an old comparative from the verbal…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μελάγχολος (melánkholos, “having black bile”) + -ία (-ía). The adjective is formed from μέλας (mélas, “black”) and χολή (kholḗ, “bile”): an excess of black bile.

It is formed from Ancient Greek μελῳδός (melōidós, “singing, musical”) + -ία (-ía). The adjective μελῳδός (melōidós) is a compound of μέλος (mélos, “song, tune”) and ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), the…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: it is a technical term of mining, and so likely to be a loan, and it has the Pre-Greek suffix ⟨-αλλ-ο-⟩. Ancient grammarians derived it from μεταλλάω (metalláō, “to…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek μετά (metá) + φέρω (phérō, “to carry”), the prefix expressing change.

It is from Ancient Greek Μῆδος (Mêdos, “a Mede”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós). Bailly derives it from the country name Μηδία (Mēdía). The people's name is Old Iranian, Old Persian 𐎶𐎠𐎭 (Māda-), of…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the unexplained /n/ and the suffix -ιγξ (-inx), which is typical of Pre-Greek words. He notes the striking parallel in meaning with Latin membrāna (“thin…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, a technical foreign word; Scarborough's database rates this judgement as very reliable. Frisk and Chantraine likewise call it a borrowed technical term of unknown…

It is formed from Ancient Greek μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “remembering, mindful”) + -ικός (-ikós). The adjective μνήμων (mnḗmōn) comes from μνάομαι (mnáomai, “to remember”), from Proto-Indo-European *men-…

It is a popular, expressive word used to frighten children, and may rest on an onomatopoeia. Frisk takes it, like Γοργώ (Gorgṓ), for a reduplicated formation, first used as a cry to cause fright…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *mū́s, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *múHs (“mouse”), the old Indo-European name of the mouse. The long vowel was caused by a laryngeal, as the accent of…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: its structure does not look Indo-European, an Indo-European zero grade of the shape it would need should have given a different Greek form, and the secondary…

It is from Ancient Greek ναύτης (naútēs, “sailor”) + -ικός (-ikós). Latin nauticus was borrowed from it; through Latin nauticus and French nautique it gave English nautical (1550s).

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁enos (“that one”), a demonstrative stem. Pokorny takes νή as an old instrumental case used as an adverb. Frisk, Pokorny and Wiktionary match it…

It is formed from Ancient Greek νέω (néō, “to spin”) with a dental enlargement, as κνήθω (knḗthō) stands beside κνάω (knáō) and πλήθω (plḗthō) beside πίμπλημι (pímplēmi); perhaps κλώθω (klṓthō, “to…

It is from Ancient Greek ξεῖ (xeî), the older spelling, rewritten with ⟨ι⟩ once ⟨ει⟩ and ⟨ι⟩ were pronounced alike. ξεῖ is a Greek formation: the letter was named on the model of πεῖ (peî), the name…

It is a borrowing from Egyptian: in Wiktionary's account it is borrowed from Demotic Egyptian wḥj, from older Egyptian wḥꜣt, a word that also meant “cauldron”. The New Pauly gives the Egyptian name…

It is formed from Ancient Greek Ὀδυσσεύς (Odusseús, “Odysseus”) + -ια (-ia), the poem about Odysseus. Beekes considers the hero's name Pre-Greek because of its many variants, such as Ὀλυσσεύς…

It is the feminine present passive participle from Ancient Greek οἰκέω (oikéō, “to inhabit”), used as a noun by leaving out γῆ (gê, “land, earth”): “the inhabited land”. The verb is formed from…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὀλιγάρχης (oligárkhēs, “oligarch”) + -ία (-ía); the compound is formed from ὀλίγος (olígos, “few”) and the root of ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule”): “rule of the few”.

1. The nail or claw is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃negʰ- (“nail”), the old name of the nail and the hoof, kept in most Indo-European branches in varied forms. The two-syllable Greek form…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὁράω (horáō, “to see”) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result.

It is formed like ξόανον (xóanon) (from ξέω (xéō)) and ὄχανον (ókhanon) (from ἔχω (ékhō)), from Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon, “work”) and ἔρδω (érdō, “to do”), Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὄστρακον (óstrakon, “potsherd”) + -ίζω (-ízō), the verbal suffix: to banish by a vote cast on potsherds, on which the voters wrote the name of the man to be exiled.

It is a back-formation from Ancient Greek οὐρέω (ouréō, “to urinate”). That verb is an iterative *ϝορσέω (*worséō) built on the root of Sanskrit वर्षति (várṣati, “it rains”), from…

It is an abstract noun in -ία (-ía) from οὖσα (oûsa), the feminine of the participle ὤν (ṓn, “being”), from Ancient Greek εἰμί (eimí, “to be”), formed like γερουσία (gerousía) from γέρων (gérōn)…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek παῖς (paîs, “child, boy”) + ἀγωγός (agōgós, “guide, escort”), from ἄγω (ágō, “to lead”): “boy-leader”.

It is a diminutive from Ancient Greek παῖς (paîs, “child”) + -ιον (-ion, “diminutive suffix”). Beekes explains the base noun, disyllabic πάϊς (páïs) in poetry, from *παϝιδ- (*pawid-), an extension…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πανακής (panakḗs, “all-healing”) + -ια (-ia).

It is a compound from Ancient Greek παν- (pan-) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”), “of the whole people”. The Doric form is πάνδαμος (pándamos), which Sophocles uses in a lyric passage of the Ajax. Πάπυρος…

Beekes, Frisk and Chantraine consider it a foreign word of Eastern origin. Benfey compared Sanskrit पुण्डरीक (puṇḍarīka-, “tiger”), a word known only from the Indian lexicographers, but Mayrhofer…

It is a noun in -η from Ancient Greek παραβάλλω (parabállō, “to throw beside, set side by side”), from παρά (pará, “beside”) and βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”). The literal sense is “a throwing beside”…

It is from Ancient Greek παραδείκνυμι (paradeíknūmi, “to show side by side, compare”) with the suffix -μα (-ma), which forms nouns of result. The verb is made of παρά (pará, “beside”) and δείκνυμι…

It is an Iranian loanword, borrowed from Proto-Iranian *paridayjah, matching Avestan pairi-daēza- (“enclosure”) and Middle Persian *pardēz, which survives in Persian as a word for “garden”. The…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “contrary to”) + δόξα (dóxa, “opinion, expectation”), from the phrase “contrary to expectation”. δόξα (dóxa) is here in its old sense "opinion…

It is the verbal adjective from Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō, “to sprinkle, strew”) + -τός (-tós): “sprinkled”, and so “salted”. The noun “bridal chamber, bridal bed” is the same word: Beekes lists it…

Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek, following Furnée, who connects it with πέταχνον (pétakhnon, “broad flat cup”). Its ending is the one found in other names of vessels, such as λεκάνη (lekánē…

It is a derivative from Ancient Greek πατήρ (patḗr, “father”), “what comes from the father”. The NIL places it in a group of adjectives and nouns from the Indo-European *ph₂tr-iyo-, from…

It is formed from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriā́, “lineage, clan”) + -ώτης (-ṓtēs), with the suffix also seen in ἡλικιώτης (hēlikiṓtēs, “age-mate”). LSJ and Babiniotis derive it instead from πάτριος…

It is formed from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “to stop”) + -σις (-sis). Beekes lists it among the derivatives of the verb as a rare word beside the commoner ἀνάπαυσις (anápausis, “rest”) and παῦλα…

It is probably an adjective with a w-suffix built on an i-stem inherited from Proto-Indo-European *peli- (“pale, grey”), which is also seen in Sanskrit पलित (palitá, “grey”). Chantraine puts all…

Its origin is uncertain. Herodotus and other writers say that this light shield was carried by the Thracians, so the word itself may be borrowed, perhaps from Thracian. It is usually connected…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *péhos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pésos (“penis”), a neuter s-stem. It is identical with Sanskrit पसस् (pásas-, “penis”). Cognate with Latin pēnis…

It is an Eastern loanword, borrowed from Prakrit pipparī, ultimately of unknown origin. Compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippalī, “long pepper”). The forms πέπερις (péperis) and πεπέριδος (pepéridos) and…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pérdomai, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pérdetor, a thematic present of the root *perd- (“to fart”). The verb is vulgar, but its forms keep an archaic…

It is formed from Ancient Greek περιφέρω (periphérō, “to carry round”) + -ής (-ḗs), with the suffix of adjectives in -ής.

It is a noun from Ancient Greek *περκός (*perkós), an unattested adjective, “spotted, dark”, which is also the base of πέρκος (pérkos, “a hawk”), περκνός (perknós, “spotted, dusky”) and the verb…