Ancient Greek words from Phoenician
5 Ancient Greek words with Phoenician in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
κάδος
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…
κιννάμωμον
It is a Semitic loanword: Herodotus says that the Greeks learned the name from the Phoenicians, borrowed from Phoenician. Compare Biblical Hebrew קִנָּמוֹן (qinnāmôn, “cinnamon”), which the…
νάρδος
It is a Semitic loanword, according to Beekes from Phoenician. Related forms are Biblical Hebrew נֵרְדְּ (nērd), Aramaic נִרְדָּא (nirdā) and Akkadian lardu; Chantraine adds that the Akkadian word…
σάκκος
It is a Semitic loanword, probably borrowed from Phoenician through trade. Compare Biblical Hebrew שַׂק (śaq, “sack, garment of mourning”), which mostly denotes the cloth, and Akkadian saqqu (“sack…
χιτών
It is a Semitic loanword, most probably borrowed from Phoenician ktn (“linen garment”). Mycenaean Greek ki-to shows that the word was borrowed early. The Semitic word, seen in Aramaic כִּיתּוּנָא…