τράγος Ancient Greek · revision 15538

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Odyssey|origins=grc τρώγω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /trá.ɡos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈtra.ɣos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈtra.ɣos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''τρᾰ́γος''' (trágos) ''m'' (genitive τρᾰ́γου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It means literally “gnawer, eater”, an agent noun of [[m|grc|τραγεῖν|tr=trageîn]], the aorist of [[m|grc|τρώγω|tr=trṓgō|t=to gnaw, nibble]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) Beekes concludes that the group of [[m|grc|τρώγω|tr=trṓgō]] is Pre-Greek, though the formation of [[m|grc|τραγεῖν|tr=trageîn]] may be a Greek creation.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ The old Indo-European word for the he-goat was Latin [[m|la|caper]], whose Greek counterpart [[m|grc|κάπρος|tr=kápros]] took the meaning “boar” after τράγος was created.^(Frisk 1960)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it once, for he-goats in the ''Odyssey'' (9.239).^(LSJ 1940)^(GLAUx)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus sets the he-goat against the she-goat, [[αἴξ|tr=aíx]].^(LSJ 1940) By metonymy it was the smell of a he-goat, and the epigrammatists say a man “smells of goat”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) Medical writers (Hippocrates, Galen) used it for puberty and the breaking of the voice, and Lucian for lechery.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) It also named the male of a fish (Aristotle), spelt (Dioscorides), the wild fig in Messenia (Pausanias), a constellation and a comet.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ It is the first part of [[τραγῳδός|tr=tragōidós]].^(Beekes 2010) Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|tragus]], and Modern Latin ''tragus'' became an anatomical term in English in the 1690s, from Rufus of Ephesus' use for the small projection of the ear.^(Saalfeld 1874)^(Etymonline) Modern Greek ''τράγος'' continues the ancient word.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Odyssey'' uses it for he-goats.^(LSJ 1940)^(GLAUx)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus contrasts the he-goat with the she-goat.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it for puberty.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a fish.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century AD – Pausanias records it as the Messenian word for the wild fig.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 1690s – English ''tragus'' names part of the ear.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|he-goat]], billy-goat.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The smell of a he-goat.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(medicine)'' [[m|en|puberty|alt=Puberty]]; the breaking of the voice.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|lechery|alt=Lechery]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The male of a small fish.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|spelt|alt=Spelt]];^(Beekes 2010) ''(Messenia)'' the wild fig.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[τραγέλαφος|tr=tragélaphos]]

+ * [[τραγικός|tr=tragikós]]

+ * [[τραγίσκος|tr=tragískos]]

+ * [[τραγοειδής|tr=tragoeidḗs]]

+ * [[τραγομάσχαλος|tr=tragomáskhalos]]

+ * [[τραγοσκελής|tr=tragoskelḗs]]

+ * [[τραγῳδός|tr=tragōidós]]

+ * [[ἀντίτραγος|tr=antítragos]]

+ * [[βούτραγος|tr=boútragos]]

+ * [[τράγαινα|tr=trágaina]]

+ * [[τραγάκανθα|tr=tragákantha]]

+ * [[τραγάω|tr=tragáō]]

+ * [[τράγινος|tr=tráginos]]

+ * [[τράγιον|tr=trágion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|tragus]]

+ * [[en|tragus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}