χόνδρος Ancient Greek · revision 2276

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=7th–6th century BC, Stesichorus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈxon.dros/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''χόνδρος''' (khóndros) ''m'' (genitive χόνδρου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is not explained.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Since Prellwitz it has usually been connected with a verb “to rub, grind”, as in [[ang|grindan|t=to grind]], [[lt|grę́sti|t=to scrape, scour]] and [[la|frendō|t=to gnash, crush]], from [[m|ine-pro|*gʰrend-]], with dissimilation from *χρόνδρος.^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) LSJ follows this view.^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ Beekes objects that Greek excludes an initial labiovelar while Latin seems to require one, and that Germanic -d- and the Lithuanian acute do not fit the Greek δ.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Alternatively it may come by dissimilation from *χόρδ-ρος, related to [[χέραδος|tr=khérados]] “silt, gravel” and [[χαράδρα|tr=kharádra]] “gorge, torrent”, in which case the word would not be Indo-European.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) Adams instead connects it with Tocharian B kanti, Hittite kant- and Iranian words for wheat such as [[fa|گندم|tr=gandum]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Stesichorus has it for barley-groats, and Herodotus for blocks of salt, and houses built of them.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In comedy it is groats of wheat or spelt cooked as a dish (Aristophanes, Pherecrates), and Aristotle and Polybius use it for groats and grains of salt; it also named lumps of frankincense gum (Theophrastus, Lucian).^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ In medicine it is cartilage, especially of the breastbone (Hippocrates), of the ear (Aristotle) and of the nose and windpipe (Pollux), and Aelian uses it of the young horns of deer.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) The compound [[ὑποχόνδριον|tr=hupokhóndrion]], the region under the cartilage of the breastbone (Hippocrates, Aristotle), is the source of [[en|hypochondria]], from the ancient belief that the organs there were the seat of melancholy.^(Beekes 2010)^(Etymonline)

+

+ The adjective [[χονδρός|tr=khondrós]] “granular, coarse” later meant coarse in general, like Latin grossus.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary) Modern Greek has a learned χονδρός beside χοντρός.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)^(Triantafyllidis 1998) [[el|χόνδρος|tr=chóndros]] is a learned word for cartilage, and [[en|chondro-]] comes from the Latinized form of the Greek word.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Stesichorus uses it for barley-groats.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes blocks of salt.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it for the cartilage of the breastbone.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the cartilage of the ear.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for grains of salt.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1816 – English ''hypochondria'' in its modern sense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A grain or lump of salt; rock salt.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Groats of wheat, spelt or barley, cooked as a dish.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A lump of frankincense gum.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' [[m|en|cartilage|alt=Cartilage]], especially of the breastbone.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+ # The young horns of deer.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[χονδρός|tr=khondrós]]

+ * [[ἄχονδρος|tr=ákhondros]]

+ * [[χονδρίλη|tr=khondrī́lē]]

+ * [[χόνδρινος|tr=khóndrinos]]

+ * [[ὑποχόνδριον|tr=hupokhóndrion]]

+ * [[χονδρίον|tr=khondríon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|hypochondria]]

+ * [[en|chondro-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}