πούς Ancient Greek · revision 2348

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pǔːs/^(Wiktionary)

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''πούς''' (poús) ''m'' (genitive ποδός); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Doric [[πώς|tr=pṓs]] (in Hesychius) and [[πός|tr=pós]], Laconian [[πόρ|tr=pór]].^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)

+ [[gmy|po-de]] (dative), and in compounds [[gmy|ti-ri-po]] “tripod”.^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ine-pro|*pṓds|t=foot]], the old consonant-stem word for the foot.^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) Beekes sees an old static ablaut between [[m|ine-pro|*ped-]] and [[m|ine-pro|*pod-]]: the o-grade is also in [[hit|pāt-]], [[xlu|pāta-]] and [[xcl|ոտն|tr=otn]]; a lengthened grade is in [[non|fótr]] and [[ang|fōt]]; [[got|𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐍃|tr=fōtus]] was remade as a u-stem; and the e-grade is in [[la|pēs]], genitive pedis.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) The vowel grade of [[sa|पद्|tr=pád]] cannot be determined.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Greek keeps the e-grade in derivatives such as [[πέδη|tr=pédē]] “fetter”, [[πεζός|tr=pezós]] “on foot”, [[πέδον|tr=pédon]] “ground” and [[πέδιλον|tr=pédilon]] “sandal”, and a zero grade in [[ἔπιβδα|tr=épibda]] “day after a feast”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(NIL 2008) The lengthened nominative survives only in Doric πώς.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Doric πός and Homeric τρί-πος were levelled after the oblique cases, and Attic πούς, which recalls [[δούς|tr=doús]], has no certain explanation.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ Ancient grammarians derived it from [[παύω|tr=paúō]] “to stop”, because the body ends at the feet, or from [[πόρος|tr=póros]] “passage”.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets have the dative po-de and compounds such as ti-ri-po “tripod”.^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) In Homer it is the foot of men and animals, often with reference to speed: Achilles is πόδας ὠκύς, “swift-footed”, and races are won “with the feet”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Homer and Hesiod the word reaches beyond the human foot: a bird's talons, the arms of an octopus, the foot of a mountain, and the sheet of a sail, the rope that holds its lower corner.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Many set phrases grew from it: πρὸ ποδός “at one's feet, of immediate concern”, ἐν ποσί “in one's path, everyday”, κατὰ πόδας “at the heels, immediately after”.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ From Herodotus on it is also a measure of length, the Greek foot of four palms or sixteen fingers, and in Aristophanes and Plato a metrical foot.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Suda) In the Septuagint it also renders Hebrew idioms, such as “at my foot” for “wherever I go”.^(Lust 2003) Medieval Greek used it for the foot, the leg, the unit of length, the metrical foot and the legs of furniture.^(Kriaras)

+

+ In Modern Greek the everyday word is [[el|πόδι|tr=pódi]], from the diminutive [[πόδιον|tr=pódion]]; as a unit, πόδι now also renders the English foot.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – po-de (dative) and ti-ri-po “tripod” on the Linear B tablets.^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Homer – the foot, especially in running; the sheet of a sail.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the arms of an octopus.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus measures in feet and mentions a wooden foot.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Plato use it of the metrical foot.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century AD – Orion derives it from παύω “to stop”.^(Etygram)

+ * Modern Greek – the ancient diminutive πόδι replaces it in everyday use.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|foot]] of a person or animal; a bird's [[m|en|talon|alt=talons]]; the arms of an octopus.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The leg with the foot.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The foot in walking, dancing or running, often with reference to speed; ποδί, ποσί “on foot”.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The foot of something that moves: of time, or the oar of a ship.^(CGL 2021)

+ # In phrases of position and time: “at one's feet”, “in one's path”, “at the heels”, “immediately”.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A foot as a [[m|en|unit]] of length.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Kriaras)

+ # ''(prosody)'' A metrical foot.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The lowest part of something: the foot of a couch, the foot of a mountain.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The [[m|en|sheet]] of a sail.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἀελλόπος|tr=aellópos]]

+ * [[ἄπους|tr=ápous]]

+ * [[δασύπους|tr=dasúpous]]

+ * [[ἐμποδών|tr=empodṓn]]

+ * [[ὀκτώπους|tr=oktṓpous]]

+ * [[ποδανιπτήρ|tr=podaniptḗr]]

+ * [[ποδήνεμος|tr=podḗnemos]]

+ * [[ποδώκης|tr=podṓkēs]]

+ * [[τρίπους|tr=trípous]]

+ * [[πόδιον|tr=pódion]]

+ * [[ἐμποδίζω|tr=empodízō]]

+ * [[ὑποπόδιον|tr=hupopódion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[πέδον|tr=pédon]]

+ * [[πεζός|tr=pezós]]

+ * [[πέδη|tr=pédē]]

+ * [[πέδιλον|tr=pédīlon]]

+ * [[la|pēs]]

+ * [[en|octopus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}