λωτός Ancient Greek · revision 2273

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=Homer, Iliad}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /loˈtos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /loˈtos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''λωτός''' (lōtós) ''m'' (genitive λωτοῦ); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a Mediterranean word of uncertain origin.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Lewy derived it from [[he|לוֹט|tr=lōṭ]], the resin rendered στακτή “oil of myrrh” in the Septuagint, and Wiktionary and Etymonline follow a Semitic source.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Rosół lists this among the rejected Semitic etymologies.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ Hyllested's reconstruction [[ine-pro|*lu̯h̥₃-to-]] rests on too little evidence for a vocalized laryngeal.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Iliad'' it is a fodder plant that horses graze, perhaps a trefoil or clover.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021) In the ''Odyssey'' it is the fruit of the Lotus-eaters, [[Λωτοφάγοι|tr=Lōtophágoi]], whose taste makes travellers forget their homecoming.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus applies it to the Egyptian water lily of the Nile and to a North African tree whose fruit he identifies with that of the Lotus-eaters.^(CGL 2021)^(Montanari 2015) Theophrastus and Dioscorides distinguish several fodder plants (clover, birdsfoot trefoil, fenugreek, melilot), the Nile lotus and its blue species, and the Libyan nettle tree.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) Because the hard wood of the nettle tree was used for pipes, in Euripides and later poets λωτός is the aulos itself, played at weddings.^(LSJ 1940)^(Montanari 2015)^(Suda)

+

+ Aeschylus uses the verb [[λωτίζομαι|tr=lōtízomai]] “to pick the flower, take the best part”, and Euripides ἀπολωτίζω.^(Beekes 2010) Later it named part of a stringed instrument (Sopater) and, in Paul of Aegina, the tube of a vaginal speculum.^(Montanari 2015)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ [[en|lotus]] comes from Latin lotus; the sense “Egyptian white lotus” dates from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) [[el|λωτός|tr=lotós]] is learned, partly from the ancient word and partly through New Latin lotus.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – a fodder plant in the ''Iliad''; the fruit of the Lotus-eaters in the ''Odyssey''.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Sappho has the compound μελίλωτος, “melilot”.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the Egyptian water lily.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the aulos.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus distinguishes several plants of this name.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius mentions the lotus tree.^(CGL 2021)^(Montanari 2015)^(DGE)

+ * 1540s – English ''lotus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fodder plant: [[m|en|clover]], trefoil, fenugreek, melilot.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The Egyptian [[m|en|lotus]] or water lily.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A North African tree, the [[m|en|nettle tree]] or the jujube.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The mythical fruit of the Lotus-eaters.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A [[m|en|flute]] of lotus wood, the aulos.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Part of a stringed instrument, and ''(medicine)'' the tube of a speculum.^(Montanari 2015)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[λώτινος|tr=lṓtinos]]

+ * [[λωτόεις|tr=lōtóeis]]

+ * [[λωτάριον|tr=lōtárion]]

+ * [[λώτισμα|tr=lṓtisma]]

+ * [[μελίλωτον|tr=melílōton]]

+ * [[Λωτοφάγοι|tr=Lōtophágoi]]

+ * [[λωτίζομαι|tr=lōtízomai]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|lotus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}