κέρας Ancient Greek · revision 2347

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=ine-pro *ḱerh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈce.ras/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''κέρᾰς''' (kéras) ''n'' (genitive κέρᾱτος or κέρᾰος or κέρεος or κέρως); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Genitive epic κέραος, Herodotean κέρεος, Attic κέρως and κέρατος; plural Attic κέρατα, Herodotean κέρεα.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ [[gmy|ke-ra-a]] /keraha/ (nominative plural).^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*kérats]],^(Wiktionary) probably remodelled from an older s-stem *kéras, which survives in [[κερασφόρος|tr=kerasphóros]] “horned”, from [[ine-pro|*ḱerh₂-|t=head, top; horn]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) Beekes reconstructs the full grade [[m|ine-pro|*ḱerh₂-es-]]; the zero grade appears in [[κάρα|tr=kára]] and [[κάρηνον|tr=kárēnon]] “head, top” and in [[κρανίον|tr=kraníon]] “skull”, and [[la|cerebrum|t=brain]] is the same s-stem with a suffix -ro-.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) The original meaning was probably “horn”, whence “horned animal head” and then “head” in general.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ Other Indo-European languages have n-formations, such as [[la|cornū]] and [[goh|horn]]; [[hit|karāwar|t=horn]] also belongs here.^(Frisk 1960)^(Rosół 2013) Rosół lists the word among the Semitic–Indo-European isoglosses: the Indo-European words for “horn” are probably connected with the Semitic word, [[akk|qarnu]], but the relation between them is unclear.^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ Byzantine etymologists derived it from κάρα “head”, because horns grow from the head.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets have ke-ra-a, “horns”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013) In Homer it is the horn of an animal, mostly of oxen and of a wild goat; horn as a material, as in the Gates of Horn through which true dreams pass; each of the horns of a bow; probably a topknot of hair; and something of horn used in fishing.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Classical Greek used it for vessels and instruments made of horn, the drinking-horn and the signalling horn, and for a bow.^(CGL 2021) By resemblance it named the branch of a river (Hesiod, Thucydides), the horns of the crescent moon, a mountain peak, and above all the wing of an army or fleet (Aeschylus, Herodotus, Thucydides), so that κατὰ κέρας meant “on the flank”.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Τὸ Κέρας, “the Horn”, was the Golden Horn at Byzantium (Polybius), and the horn of Amaltheia, the horn of plenty, appears from Anacreon on.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ In the Septuagint the horn is a symbol of strength: “to lift up the horn” is to exalt, God is a “horn of salvation”, and altars have horn-shaped corners.^(Lust 2003) Luke applies the “horn of salvation” to the Messiah.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000) The diminutive [[κεράτιον|tr=kerátion]] named the fruit of the carob tree (Luke 15:16) and a small weight and coin, the carat.^(Beekes 2010)^(Etymonline)

+

+ Medieval Greek used it for a battle array and for power.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek keeps κέρας as a learned word, chiefly in “the horn of Amaltheia” and for the musical horn, while the ordinary word is [[el|κέρατο|tr=kérato]].^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – ke-ra-a, “horns”, on the Linear B tablets.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)

+ * Homer – horns of oxen and goats; the Gates of Horn.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the branch of a river.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 6th century BC – Anacreon mentions the horn of Amaltheia.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for the wing of an army.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius calls the Golden Horn Τὸ Κέρας.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – Luke's “horn of salvation”.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * Modern Greek – κέρας as a learned word; everyday κέρατο.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|horn]] of an animal, and ''(figurative, Septuagint and New Testament)'' strength, power.^(CGL 2021)^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # A [[m|en|drinking horn|alt=drinking-horn]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # A horn for signalling, a [[m|en|trumpet]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|bow]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # Horn as a material.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # A piece of horn on a fishing line.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # Hair worn in a horn-like peak.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # A branch of a river, and ''(with the article)'' the Golden Horn.^(CGL 2021)

+ # The horn of the crescent moon; a mountain peak; the tip of a pole.^(CGL 2021)

+ # The [[m|en|wing]] or flank of an army or fleet.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A column or line of troops or ships.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A horn-shaped corner of an altar.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[κεράτινος|tr=kerā́tinos]]

+ * [[κεράτιον|tr=kerā́tion]]

+ * [[μονόκερως|tr=monókerōs]]

+ * [[αἰγόκερας|tr=aigókeras]]

+ * [[ῥινόκερως|tr=rhīnókerōs]]

+ * [[κερασφόρος|tr=kerasphóros]]

+ * [[κεράστης|tr=kerástēs]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[κάρα|tr=kárā]]

+ * [[κρανίον|tr=krāníon]]

+ * [[la|cornū]]

+ * [[en|rhinoceros]]

+ * [[en|carat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Suda notes that in Scripture the horn means strength, by a metaphor from animals that defend themselves with their horns.^(Suda)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}