Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 6th century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-) + -της (-tēs) on an earlier *ἕντης (*héntēs), as the variant αὐτοέντης (autoéntēs) in Sophocles and Hesychius' συνέντης (sunéntēs, “fellow worker”)…

It looks like an abstract noun from Ancient Greek *βακτήρ (*baktḗr), an unattested noun that would stand beside βάκτρον (báktron, “stick”) as ἀροτήρ (arotḗr) stands beside ἄροτρον (árotron)…

It is an instrument noun in -τρον (-tron) on a stem of uncertain origin, which also gives βακτηρία (baktēría, “staff”). The two stand to each other as ἄροτρον (árotron) to ἀροτήρ (arotḗr). The stem…

It is an onomatopoeic reduplicated formation, imitating speech that cannot be understood, and at first referred to the language of foreigners. It matches post-Vedic Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara…

1. The boat is a word of Egyptian origin, borrowed from Egyptian bꜣjr (“transport ship”). Beekes compares the Coptic word for a boat, Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare). Wiktionary traces the Greek word through…

It is borrowed from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), the name of a stone that the Egyptians used as a touchstone for gold. It reached Greece through Lydia, as the Greek name “Lydian stone” for the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis, from the root *gʷem- (“to step, go”); it matches Sanskrit गति (gáti, “going”). By surface analysis it is…

It is probably a loanword. Following Hemmerdinger, Beekes considers it borrowed from Egyptian bꜣkt (“oil flask, used as a measure”), and Wiktionary gives that origin as probable. E. Masson thought…

It is a loanword from the east. Beekes thinks it must be of Anatolian origin, as its structure suggests: an original ⟨*p/bamb-ūk-⟩ with a suffix ⟨-ūk-⟩. He notes that silk was produced in Kos and…

It is probably inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gémō, a simple thematic present of Proto-Indo-European *gem- (“to take, seize”). It is probably related to Umbrian kumiaf (“pregnant (accusative…

It is formed from Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “to know”) + -μη (-mē). γιγνώσκω is from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to recognize, get to know”). Cognate with Latin nōscō (“to get to know”)…

It is formed from Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “to get to know”) + -μων (-mōn), “one who knows”. The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to recognize, get to know”), the root of Latin…

The origin is unknown. Frisk rejects the comparisons with Old Irish garg (“rough, wild”), Old Church Slavonic гроза (groza, “horror”) and Old Armenian կարծր (karcr, “hard”). Leumann took γοργός as a…

It is formed from Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, write”) + -μα (-ma), the suffix of result nouns. Dialect forms show the suffix more clearly: Argive ⟨γράσσμα⟩ from ⟨*γράφ-σ-μα⟩, and Doric…

It is formed from Ancient Greek γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”) + -άζω (-ázō), the verbal suffix: “to train naked”, since Greek athletes exercised naked.

It is formed from Ancient Greek γυμνάζω (gumnázō, “to train, exercise”) + -ιον (-ion) (from the stem of ⟨γυμνάζω⟩). The verb comes from γυμνός (gumnós, “naked”), since athletes trained naked…

It is formed from Ancient Greek δράω (drā́ō, “to do, act”) + -μα (-ma), the result-noun suffix.

It is formed from Ancient Greek δύναμαι (dúnamai, “to be able”) + -της (-tēs), with the ⟨σ⟩ that the verb also shows in its aorist ἐδυνάσθην (edunásthēn). Babiniotis notes that the analysis is…

Beekes and Frisk start from an older *ϝέθος (*wéthos), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *swedʰos, whose initial aspiration was lost by dissimilation before the aspirate of the second syllable…

It is formed with the suffix -ών, from Ancient Greek ἔοικα (éoika, “to be like”), on the root, as an agent noun, with the same vowel as εἰκώς (eikṓs) and εἴκελος (eíkelos, “like”). Cypriot…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐκ- (ek-, “out”) + λείπω (leípō, “to leave”). The simple verb is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave behind”), and its aorist ἔλιπον (élipon) has…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *eləkʰús, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁léngʷʰus (“light”), from the zero grade Proto-Indo-European *h₁ln̥gʷʰ-ú- with a prothetic vowel. It is the same…

The origin is unknown. Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek. Frisk and Hommel thought of an origin in Asia Minor, perhaps Phrygian, and the DGE calls it a borrowing from Phrygian, perhaps meaning…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἔνθους (énthous) + -ιάζω (-iázō), from the contracted form of ἔνθεος (éntheos, “possessed by a god”), literally “having a god within”. Beekes explains the ending by…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐξ- (ex-) + ἐτάζω (etázō, “to examine, test”), the prefix marking that the inquiry is carried to its end. ἐτάζω (etázō) is itself rare, and the compound is the usual…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἐξ- (ex-, “out”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”): “a going out, a way out”. The origin of ὁδός (hodós) is uncertain.

It is a compound from Ancient Greek εὐνή (eunḗ, “bed”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, keep”), with the root of the verb: “keeper of the bed”, the attendant of the royal bedchamber and the women's quarters…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: it has no Indo-European cognates, and the variation within the family of θαῦμα (thaûma) and θάμβος (thámbos) points to a substrate word. The base is a form *θᾱϝᾱ…

It is formed from Ancient Greek θέα (théā, “sight, spectacle”) + ὁράω (horáō, “to see”): properly “one who watches a show”, from *θεαϝορός (*theaworós) or *θεηϝορός (*theēworós), which became the…

It is from Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”), from the root of that verb, Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set”). It is often compared with Sanskrit धाक (dhāká, “container”)…

It has no etymology. Beekes regards it as a technical term borrowed from Pre-Greek, and its shape suggests a pre-form in *-arw-. Scarborough's database rates the non-Greek origin as very reliable…

It is a verbal abstract from Ancient Greek ἰδεῖν (ideîn, “to see”), formed like ἀλέα (aléā, “warmth of the sun”). It goes back to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”) and is…

1. The arrow is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ihwós, a thematized form of Proto-Indo-European *(H)isu- (“arrow”). Cognate with Sanskrit इषु (íṣu) and Avestan išu, both meaning “arrow”…

The origin is uncertain. The obvious explanation makes it from Ancient Greek εἶμι (eîmi, “to go”) with the suffix -θμός (-thmós), comparing the variant Ἰθμός (Ithmós) in Delphic inscriptions and the…

It is formally from Ancient Greek ἵστωρ (hístōr, “one who knows, expert; witness”), but was associated in use with the verb ἱστορέω (historéō, “to inquire, find out”). Ἵστωρ is from *wid-tōr, an…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: its suffix ⟨-υγγ-⟩ is typical of the substrate, and it was “without a doubt” a loanword adapted by folk etymology to ἰύζω (iúzō, “to cry aloud”). Frisk thought it was…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way, road”). The same pattern gives ἄνοδος (ánodos), μέθοδος (méthodos) and σύνοδος (súnodos). The Ionic form is κάτοδος…

It is a noun formed from Ancient Greek κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”) + -ή (-ḗ). Beekes describes it as a primary formation on the unchanging verbal stem καμπ- (kamp-), beside which the verb is a…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, following Chantraine, who pointed to the personal names and to place-names such as Kantharos, a harbour of Piraeus. Beekes's lexicon of Pre-Greek also notes the suffix…

Its origin is unknown. Beekes notes that, as there is no etymology and the suffix occurs in Pre-Greek words, it may be Pre-Greek. The word is often compared with Latin caupō (“innkeeper”), which…

It is clearly connected with Latin cancer (“crab”) and Sanskrit कर्कट (karkaṭa, “crab”), but not all the details are clear. Like Latin cancer from *carcros, it may have undergone a dissimilation of…

It is formed from Ancient Greek καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn; to subdue; to bring to an end”) + -ή (-ḗ). The verb is formed from κατά (katá, “down”) and στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the suffix -αρ-; earlier Indo-European and Semitic explanations are incorrect. Scarborough's database rates this very reliable. Frisk calls it a loanword…

It is apparently inherited from Proto-Hellenic *klə́dos, from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥d-o-s (“piece of wood”), which has traditionally been linked with *kelh₂- (“to break”). Beekes doubts that link…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kowéjō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kowh₁éyeti, a causative or iterative verb of the root *(s)kewh₁- (“to perceive, pay attention”). Beekes…

Beekes takes it from Pre-Greek: the element -σσ- typically points to Pre-Greek, where it may stand for an earlier palatal as in θάλασσα (thálassa, “sea”), and the word has variants with -ττ- and…

The origin is uncertain. It may be derived from a noun, like other words for clothing such as κνημίς (knēmís) and χειρίς (kheirís), or it may simply have taken over their ending. The old comparison…

It is formed from Ancient Greek κρίνω (krī́nō, “to separate, decide, judge”) + -της (-tēs), an agent noun built on the short root of the verb. The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to…

It is from Ancient Greek κρέκω (krékō, “to weave”) with the noun suffix -η (-ē). Beekes lists it with a root noun κρόξ (króx), of which the accusative κρόκα (króka) and the plural κρόκες (krókes)…

The origin is unknown. Herodotus says that it was the Ionic word for a lizard, which was then applied to the crocodile. Frisk took it as a popular compound meaning “gravel worm”, from Ancient Greek…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pḱtén-s (“comb”), from *peḱ- (“to pluck”). Latin pecten (“comb”) shows the full form; in Greek the zero-grade root lost its initial /p/, a simplification of…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek. He points to the ending, which it shares with other vessel names such as λήκυθος (lḗkuthos) and γυργαθός (gurgathós), to the sequence -υα-, typical of Pre-Greek words…

The origin is unknown. Beekes suggests, with a question mark, that it is Pre-Greek, since words for dice are often loans and the Lydians claimed, according to Herodotus (1.94), to have invented the…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kúrios, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, be strong”). It is formed on an r-stem, which is also presupposed by ἄκυρος (ákuros, “without…

The origin is uncertain. Beekes finds no obvious cognates and asks whether it is Pre-Greek. The words for “knee” in Balto-Slavic, such as Lithuanian kelỹs, are often compared, but Beekes thinks the…

The origin is uncertain, because the development of its meaning is unclear. Proposals include: *ḱómso-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱems- (“to proclaim”), the root of Sanskrit शंस (śáṃsa, “praise”)…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, with a Pre-Greek suffix -ρ-. The family seems to have been North-West Greek, unknown at first in Aeolic and Ionic and even in Attic. It is usually analysed as a zero…

Beekes considers it a Pre-Greek word, that, like Latin līlium, came from a language of the eastern Mediterranean. A similar word for the lily is found in Coptic, Fayyumic Coptic ϩⲗⲏⲣⲓ (hlēri) and…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *léikʰō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). All the Greek forms are built on the thematic present λείχω; an older zero grade appears in the…

The origin is uncertain. Beekes thinks the likeness to Latin lapis (“stone”) can hardly be chance and takes both as borrowings from a Mediterranean language, a view Frisk also mentions; Wiktionary…