Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 7th century BC

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, a loan from the substrate. He finds support in the Hesychian form ἄδρακτος (ádraktos), with the variation of /t/ and /d/ found in Pre-Greek words, and perhaps in…

The origin is uncertain. The suffix -έη, found in words for animal skins such as ἀλωπεκέη (alōpekéē) “fox-skin”, suggests that the word first named the weasel's pelt and only later the animal. Since…

It is a verbal adjective formed from Ancient Greek δύναμαι (dúnamai, “to be able”) + -τός (-tós). The origin of δύναμαι (dúnamai) is uncertain. Beekes and Chantraine analyse it as a present with a…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἕβδομος (hébdomos, “seventh”) + -άς (-ás), and the ordinal is itself formed from ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”).

In Chantraine's and Frisk's view it is an old locative case form built on a demonstrative particle, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“this, here”), with a second particle ἐ- (e-) prefixed, as also in…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐπι- (epi-, “on”) + ἡμέρα (hēmérā, “day”) + -ος (-os), literally “lasting for the day”. LSJ treats it as the more common form, especially in prose, of ἐφημέριος…

Beekes, Chantraine and Frisk treat it as a Mediterranean word, and Beekes classes it as Pre-Greek: the feminine θύννα (thúnna) with a short -α points to a Pre-Greek origin. Lewy compared Biblical…

It is a derivative from Ancient Greek μόναρχος (mónarkhos, “monarch”) + -ία (-ía). By surface analysis it is μόνος (mónos, “alone, sole”) with -αρχία (-arkhía, “rule, government”), which belongs to…

It is the Ionic form from Ancient Greek ναυτία (nautía) “seasickness”, a derivative of ναύτης (naútēs) “sailor”, itself from ναῦς (naûs) “ship”. In ναυσία the /t/ of the stem became /s/ before the…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) + οἶκος (oîkos, “house, dwelling”). It is formed like ἔνοικος (énoikos), κάτοικος (kátoikos) and μέτοικος (métoikos). The noun οἶκος (oîkos)…

It is the middle of πορεύω (poreúō), formed from Ancient Greek πόρος (póros, “passage, way”) + -εύω (-eúō). Beekes and Frisk list the verb among the o-grade derivatives of πείρω (peírō, “to pierce…

It is formed from Ancient Greek σέβομαι (sébomai, “to feel awe, revere”) + -νός (-nós), an old verbal adjective *σεβνός (*sebnós) whose /b/ was assimilated to the following /n/. Beekes traces it to…

It is a noun from Ancient Greek στέλλω (stéllō, “to make ready, equip; to send”), with the o-grade of the root, like στόλος (stólos) “expedition, fleet”. The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”), literally “a coming together”.

It is an agent noun from Ancient Greek σῴζω (sōízō, “to save”), with the suffix -τήρ (-tḗr). Beekes lists it among the derivatives of the verb, which comes from the adjective σῶς (sôs, “safe…

The origin is unknown. Beekes takes the aorist χαλάσαι (khalásai) as the primary formation and the presents χαλάω and χαλαίνω (khalaínō) as later. The adjective χαλαρός (khalarós) stands beside it…

Beekes takes it as Pre-Greek: its suffix -υρα (-ura) is typically Pre-Greek, as in γέφυρα (géphūra, “bridge”) and γόργυρα (górgūra, “underground sewer”), so it does not continue an inherited…

It is a loanword from an Eastern language that cannot be identified. Beekes places its source in India and compares κιννάμωμον (kinnámōmon, “cinnamon”). Wiktionary regards it as a word of lost…

Its origin is disputed. The usual explanation takes it as a negated verbal adjective, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) + σφάλλω (sphállō, “to make fall”), “not letting fall”, on the assumption that it was…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variant forms βάρμιτος (bármitos), βάρμος (bármos) and βάρωμος (bárōmos), with the alternation of /b/ and /m/, and because of the suffix -ιτ-. He also…

It is a neuter noun formed from Ancient Greek βαρύς (barús, “heavy”), with which it shares its root. It appears in compounds such as οἰνοβαρής (oinobarḗs, “heavy with wine”) already in Homer, though…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷlépō, of unclear further origin. Beside it stands γλέπω (glépō), as γλέφαρον (glépharon) stands beside βλέφαρον (blépharon, “eyelid”), and Macedonian had…

It is a verbal noun from Ancient Greek γάνυμαι (gánumai, “to brighten up, rejoice”) + -ος (-os), made on the model of neuters such as γλῆνος (glênos). The same neuter s-stem is found in the…

It belongs to a family of words for sticky matter found in several European languages, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, stick together”). Two pre-forms are possible: a form with…

1. The finger is probably Pre-Greek. Beekes starts from Boeotian δακκύλιος (dakkúlios), whose ⟨κκ⟩ can hardly come from ⟨κτ⟩, and reconstructs *δάτκυλος (*dátkulos), with the Pre-Greek cluster -κτ-…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *déspotis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótis (“master of the house”), an old phrase that became a single word in Greek. The first part is the…

It is a back-formation from Ancient Greek διαιτάομαι (diaitáomai, “to live”), διαιτάω (diaitáō). That verb stands beside αἴνυμαι (aínumai, “to take”) as ἀρτάω (artáō) stands beside ἀείρω (aeírō): it…

It is the Ionic-Attic present, from Ancient Greek ἔραμαι (éramai), and the active is used only in the present and imperfect. The original stem was ἐρασ- (eras-), as shown by ἐραστής (erastḗs…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ekʰinos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰis (“hedgehog”). Beekes and Frisk take it as probably derived from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”) with the suffix -ῑνο- (-īno-)…

It is formed from Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”) + -σις (-sis); it may also continue an inherited *dʰéh₁tis, from the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to set, make”). It…

Beekes holds that, like διθύραμβος (dīthúrambos) and θρίαμβος (thríambos), it is doubtless Pre-Greek, pointing to its sequence ⟨ια⟩ and its suffix ⟨αμβ⟩; compare also ἴθυμβος (íthumbos). Frisk…

The origin is uncertain. It may come from *ἱπνός (*hipnós), with the rough breathing seen in the name Ἔφιπνος and an inscription. It has long been compared with Old English ofen, Old High German…

It is generally taken to be a Semitic loanword, probably borrowed from Phoenician 𐤊𐤃 (kd, “jar”), a form Chantraine assumes for Phoenician. The same word is Biblical Hebrew כַּד (kad, “bucket, large…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kəňňós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥-yós, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ken- (“new, fresh”). Chantraine finds it plausible that a thematic…

It is an Oriental loanword, from a Semitic source matching Biblical Hebrew קְצִיעָה (qəṣīʿā, “cassia”) and Akkadian kasîa. Wiktionary connects the Hebrew word with קָצַע (qāṣaʿ, “to cut off”), after…

It is a deverbative verb of unclear origin. Since Bugge it has generally been compared with a Germanic verb of somewhat different meaning, Old English hōlian (“to slander”) and Old High German…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: the related κυλίσκη (kulískē) and κυλίχνιον (kulíkhnion) show aspiration before a nasal, which is not an Indo-European feature, ⟨-ικ-⟩ is a typical Pre-Greek suffix…

Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek. Furnée compared it with κώδων (kṓdōn, “bell”) and with Kartvelian words for “cup”. For Chantraine the origin is unknown; some have thought of κύαθος (kúathos…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *laiwós, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂iwos (“left”), an old Indo-European word for “left”. Cognate with Latin laevus, Proto-Slavic *lěvъ and Russian…

According to Wiktionary it is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *lakíds, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂k- (“to tear”), and compares Latin lacer (“torn”) and lancinō (“to tear to pieces”). Beekes finds…

The origin is uncertain. It has the suffix -σός (-sós) of several adjectives with a similar meaning, such as γαυσός (gausós, “crooked”), καμψός (kampsós), φοξός (phoxós) and ῥυσός (rhusós). A…

The origin is disputed, because Greek does not show whether the stem was originally μαγ- (mag-) or μακ- (mak-): both the aorist passive μαγῆναι (magênai) and nouns with μακ- occur. If the stem was…

The traditional view makes it a formation in ⟨-η(τ)-⟩ from a noun like Latin mūcus (“mucus of the nose”), so that it belongs with μύσσομαι (mússomai, “to blow one's nose”) and μύξα (múxa, “mucus”)…

The origin is unknown. Beekes, following Chantraine, notes that as a culture word μύρον may well be a loan. It has traditionally been taken as Indo-European, together with σμύρις (smúris, “emery”)…

It is a Semitic loanword. Rosół counts it among the accepted Semitic loanwords, comparing Akkadian murru (“myrrh”) and Biblical Hebrew מֹר (mōr, “myrrh”), and Chantraine calls it a certain loan from…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variation between ⟨μυρτ-⟩ and ⟨μυρσ-⟩, as in μυρσίνη (mursínē), a typical Pre-Greek alternation. Because of their likeness in sound and meaning, μύρτος…

It is a back-formation from Ancient Greek νήφων (nḗphōn, “sober”), whose stem ⟨νηφον-⟩ (not ⟨*νηφοντ-⟩) shows that it was not originally a present participle. Following Frisk and Weiss, Beekes and…

It is an Oriental loanword, ultimately borrowed from Egyptian nṯrj (“natron”). The same word is found in Biblical Hebrew נֶתֶר (néṯer, “washing soda”) and probably in Hittite nitri-. Rosół classes…

It is formed from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + -ία (-íā), or, in Wiktionary's analysis, from the verb οἰκέω (oikéō, “to dwell”) with the same suffix. Cretan and Locrian have ϝοικία…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *péřřa, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pér-ih₂, from the root *per- (“to cross, pass”). Aeolic had πέρρα (pérra). It is formed like μοῖρα (moîra) and σπεῖρα…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, since he takes the suffix -ῑκ- to be a substrate suffix. The traditional explanation, given by Frisk, derives it with the suffix -ικ- from πέρδομαι (pérdomai) “to…

Beekes considers it a loanword from an unknown language, perhaps Pre-Greek. Its suffix in a voiceless velar is also found in other animal names, such as ἱέραξ (hiérax, “falcon”) and μύρμηξ (múrmēx…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”), the root of πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “to fill”). Beekes traces the formation itself to the parent language, as *pleh₁-r-, which is also seen…

Beekes considers it a loan from Pre-Greek, because it belongs to the field of building and has the notoriously foreign element -ινθος (-inthos). Chantraine and Frisk likewise call it a technical…

It is a noun of result from Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō, “to blow, breathe”) with the suffix -μα (-ma). Wiktionary reconstructs *pnéumə and Proto-Indo-European *pnéwmn̥, from the root *pnew-. Beekes…

Chantraine calls its origin obscure. Its formation recalls nouns such as χόρτος (khórtos, “fodder”) and φόρτος (phórtos, “load”), and its meaning πάλη (pálē, “fine flour”) and πέλανος (pélanos…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pórnē, from Proto-Indo-European *porh₂-neh₂-, an o-grade noun of the root *perh₂- (“to sell”) that also gave πέρνημι (pérnēmi, “to sell”). The loss of the…

Beekes finds no Indo-European connections and takes it as probably a loanword from a Mediterranean language, perhaps Pre-Greek. Frisk also thinks a borrowing from a Mediterranean language most…

It is formed from Ancient Greek εἴρω (eírō, “to say”) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result, “what is said”. It belongs to the group of ῥῆσις (rhêsis, “speech”), ῥήτρα (rhḗtra, “agreement, law”) and ῥήτωρ…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hrutʰmós, corresponding to Proto-Indo-European *sru-dʰ-mo-s, from *srew- (“to flow”), the root of ῥέω (rhéō) “to flow”. Beekes and Frisk accept this old…