helix

Forms

helix f (genitive helicis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “convolution, volute, tendril, spiral”).^[2][1][3] Beekes notes that the Greek word is formed like other nouns in -ιξ, probably from a noun that was perhaps derived from Ancient Greek εἰλέω (eiléō, “to turn, wind”); he adds that the suffix mostly makes Pre-Greek words.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Vitruvius, for a volute of a column's capital.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word named things with a spiral shape: in Vitruvius the volute of the Corinthian capital,^[2][5][6] and in Pliny the Elder a kind of ivy, a kind of willow and a shellfish.^[2][7][6] Apuleius uses it for the orbit of the moon.^[2][6] English took helix in the 1560s, first for the volutes of Corinthian capitals.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the volute of a capital.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a kind of ivy, a willow and a shellfish.^[2][4]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the orbit of the moon.^[2][4]
• 1560s – Borrowed into English as helix.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spiral; applied to:^[2]
2. # a kind of ivy.^[2][7]
3. # a kind of willow.^[2][7]
4. # a shellfish.^[2][7]
5. # a volute of the Corinthian capital.^[2][5]
6. An orbit.^[2][6]

Related words

• English helix

Usage notes

Köbler lists a separate helix in Venantius Fortunatus, perhaps meaning “elk”, and takes it for a blend of the Germanic word for the elk with the Greek word.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b 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
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com