κροκόδειλος Ancient Greek · revision 2334

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=6th century BC, Hipponax}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /kro.kó.deː.los/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /kroˈko.ði.los/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /kroˈko.ði.los/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''κροκόδειλος''' (krokódeilos) ''m'' (genitive κροκοδείλου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Correctly κροκόδῑλος, as in papyri of the 3rd century BC; also κορκόδιλος, Hipponax κροκύδιλος, κρεκύδειλος (''Etymologicum Genuinum'').^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(Beekes 2010) Herodotus says that it was the Ionic word for a lizard, which was then applied to the crocodile.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)^(Frisk 1960) Frisk took it as a popular compound meaning “gravel worm”, [[af|grc|κρόκη|δρῖλος|tr1=krókē|tr2=drîlos|t1=pebble|t2=worm]], with loss of the second /r/ by dissimilation.^(Frisk 1960) Beekes says this etymology “should be forgotten”.^(Frisk 1960)^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος)^(Wiktionary) Grumach thought it Pre-Greek, which Kretschmer rejected.^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ The spelling with ει, now usual, is an itacistic misspelling of κροκόδιλος.^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Hipponax has κροκύδιλος for a lizard.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus describes the crocodile of the Nile and mentions crocodiles in the rivers of India and three-cubit land “crocodiles”, probably the desert monitor.^(LSJ 1940)^(Frisk 1960) Aristotle distinguishes the river crocodile, and still uses the word for other lizards, as does the Septuagint in Leviticus.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Chrysippus used the derivative κροκοδιλίτης for a kind of fallacy, the “crocodile argument”, Latin crocodilina ambiguitas.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Through [[la|crocodilus]] it passed to the European languages, among them English [[m|en|crocodile]].^(Πάπυρος) Medieval Greek had forms such as κορκόδειλος and κοκόδρουλος, the latter influenced by Italian coccodrillo, and the word survives as [[el|κροκόδειλος|tr=krokódilos]].^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 6th century BC – Hipponax uses κροκύδιλος of a lizard.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes the Nile crocodile and says the name was Ionic for “lizard”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle speaks of the river crocodile.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 3rd century BC – papyri spell it κροκόδιλος.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 2nd century BC – the spelling κροκόδειλος appears in papyri.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Modern Greek – κροκόδειλος.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Ionic)'' A [[m|en|lizard]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|crocodile]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' A sophistical fallacy.^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[κροκοδίλινος|tr=krokodī́linos]]

+ * [[κροκοδιλίτης|tr=krokodilítēs]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|crocodilus]]

+ * [[en|crocodile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}