ἄσβεστος Ancient Greek · revision 2641

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=grc σβέννυμι}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /áz.bes.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈaz.βes.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈaz.ves.tos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ἄσβεστος''' (ásbestos) ''m'' (feminine ἀσβέστη, neuter ἄσβεστον); first/second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the privative prefix with [[σβεστός|tr=sbestós]], the verbal adjective of [[σβέννυμι|tr=sbénnumi|t=to quench]]: “unquenchable”.^(Beekes 2010)^(DGE)^(Wiktionary) The noun “quicklime” is short for “unslaked [[τίτανος|tr=títanos|t=lime]]”.^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it of fire and, figuratively, of things that cannot be stopped: the “unquenchable laughter” of the gods in the first book of the ''Iliad'', an endless battle cry, and undying fame in the ''Odyssey''.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense stayed in poetry: Pindar has the undying light of noble deeds, Aeschylus the ceaseless flow of Ocean.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) The New Testament speaks of the unquenchable fire of judgement, and Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus of a sacred fire never allowed to go out.^(BDAG 2000)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ As a noun it meant unslaked lime in Dioscorides and Plutarch.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000) Beekes and Frisk, following Diels, stress that the Greek word never meant “asbestos”, for which Greek used [[ἀμίαντος|tr=amíantos]]; the mineral sense is found only in Pliny's Latin, and English ''asbestos'' comes from it through Latin and French.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(DGE)^(Etymonline) Medieval Greek kept the noun for lime, and Modern Greek has the learned noun [[el|άσβεστος|tr=ásvestos]] “lime” and the adjective “undying”.^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' speaks of unquenchable flame and the gods' unquenchable laughter.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it of undying glory and Ocean's ceaseless flow.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the feminine for unslaked lime.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The Gospels speak of unquenchable fire.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 1st century AD – Pliny uses ''asbestos'' for a mineral.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1650s – English uses ''asbestos'' for the mineral.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|unquenchable]], inextinguishable, of fire.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Ceaseless, undying, of laughter, fame or a battle cry.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Unslaked lime, [[m|en|quicklime]].^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # ''(Latin writers)'' A mineral; [[m|en|asbestos]].^(DGE)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[σβέννυμι|tr=sbénnumi]]

+ * [[σβεστός|tr=sbestós]]

+ * [[τίτανος|tr=títanos]]

+ * [[la|asbestos]]

+ * [[en|asbestos]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}