ἄστρον Ancient Greek · revision 2217

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *h₂stḗr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈas.tron/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ᾰ̓́στρον''' (ástron) ''n'' (genitive ᾰ̓́στρου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a singular made secondarily from the plural [[ἄστρα|tr=ástra|t=the stars]], which served as the usual plural of [[m|grc|ἀστήρ|tr=astḗr|t=star]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Etygram) The NIL takes the plural to be an old collective, Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*h₂stér-h₂]], perhaps matched by Old Irish [[m|sga|ser|t=star]].^(NIL 2008) The -στρ- is the zero grade of the stem of ἀστήρ.^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ [[m|grc|ἀστήρ|tr=astḗr]] itself continues [[grk-pro|*astḗr]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂stḗr|t=star]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) Cognates include Hittite [[m|hit|ḫasterza]], Old Armenian [[m|xcl|աստղ|tr=astł]], Gothic [[m|got|𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉|tr=stairnō]], Tocharian B [[m|txb|ścirye]] and Latin [[m|la|stēlla]], all meaning “star”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Beekes thinks a connection with the Proto-Indo-European root [[m|ine-pro|*h₂eh₁s-|t=to burn]] quite probable, while Frisk rejected it.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) A Sumerian or Babylonian origin, from the name of the goddess Ištar, has been proposed but is very improbable;^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Rosół lists it among rejected Semitic etymologies.^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Homer it is found only in the plural, meaning “the stars”, as in a simile of the stars shining bright in the sky in the ''Iliad''.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Hesiod's ''Theogony'' has “the shining stars”.^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Greek the plural remained the usual form, and the stars were watched to tell the time of year and to steer by: Sophocles' Oedipus measures out the land “by the stars”, as seafarers and travellers in deserts did.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Pape 1914) The singular was used above all of [[m|en|Sirius]], the Dog Star, from Alcaeus on;^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Hippocratic writers date events “about the star”, that is, in the dog days.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Pindar calls the sun “a star”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Slater 1969) In astronomy Plato contrasts the wandering stars (the planets) with the fixed ones, and Aristotle uses the word of the fixed stars.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Euripides and Plato also speak of the stars as gods.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ Figuratively a person or place could be called the “star” of something: the Acropolis of Corinth is the “star of Greece” in an epigram, and an inscription of the 1st–2nd century AD praises a philosopher as a “star of Socratic wisdom”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) In the Septuagint and the New Testament the stars appear with the sun and moon, as the guide of sailors and as an image of countless numbers.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ In medieval vernacular Greek ''άστρο(ν)'' meant a star, the morning star and the pole star, and also the constellation under which one is born, the stars as powers ruling a person's life.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek [[m|el|άστρο|tr=ástro]] continues it in the same senses.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Πάπυρος) Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|astrum]],^(Wiktionary) and English forms many words with ''astro-''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use the plural for the stars.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod speaks of the shining stars.^(DGE)

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses the singular of Sirius.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls the sun a star.^(LSJ 1940)^(Slater 1969)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato contrasts the planets with the fixed stars.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of signs in the sun, moon and stars.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek uses ''άστρο'' of one's birth star and fate.^(Kriaras)

+ * Mid-18th century – English begins to form words with ''astro-''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The [[m|en|star|alt=stars]]; the heavenly bodies.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(singular)'' A single star, especially [[m|en|Sirius]]; περὶ τὸ ἄστρον “about the star”, in the dog days.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ # ''(poetic)'' The [[m|en|sun]].^(LSJ 1940)^(Slater 1969)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' A fixed star or a [[m|en|planet]]; a [[m|en|constellation]].^(LSJ 1940)^(UBS 2023)

+ # A star as a deity.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Someone or something brilliant, the glory of a place or a school.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἀστρολογία|tr=astrologíā]]

+ * [[ἀστρονομία|tr=astronomía]]

+ * [[ἀστρολάβος|tr=astrolábos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἀστήρ|tr=astḗr]]

+ * [[la|astrum]]

+ * [[en|astrology]]

+ * [[en|astronomy]]

+ * [[en|disaster]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Ancient grammarians distinguished ἄστρον, a constellation made of many stars, from [[ἀστήρ|tr=astḗr]], a single star, but the two are often used alike.^(Bailly 2020)^(BDAG 2000) Ancient writers derived ἄστρον from [[αἴθω|tr=aíthō|t=to burn]], defining the stars by their fire.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}