λαβύρινθος Ancient Greek · revision 3237

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=5th century BC, Herodotus|origins=qfa-sub-grc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /la.bý.rin.tʰos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /laˈβy.rin.θos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /laˈvy.rin.θos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''λᾰβῠ́ρῐνθος''' (labúrinthos) ''m'' (genitive λᾰβῠρῐ́νθου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Mycenaean genitive (possibly) [[gmy|da-pu2-ri-to-jo]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Beekes 2014)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Pre-Greek, [[der|qfa-sub-grc|-]], as the suffix [[m|grc|-ινθος|tr=-inthos]] and the variations between ⟨λ⟩ and ⟨δ⟩ and between ⟨β⟩ and ⟨φ⟩ show.^(Beekes 2010)^(Beekes 2014)^(Frisk 1960) The PHILOGLOSSA database rates this as very reliable.^(PHILOGLOSSA) The Mycenaean genitive [[gmy|da-pu2-ri-to-jo]] is usually read as the same word, so that Wiktionary reconstructs [[grk-pro|*dabúrintʰos]], but the identification is disputed.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ The old connection with [[λάβρυς|tr=lábrus]], which Plutarch says was Lydian for “axe”, explaining the labyrinth as the “House of the Double Axe”, is called speculative by Beekes.^(Beekes 2010) Frisk mentions the Carian god Dabraundos in this connection.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) A link with [[λαύρα|tr=laúra|t=lane, passage]] as another substrate word is possible.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Semitic etymologies from [[hbo|דְּבִיר|tr=dəḇîr|t=inner sanctuary]] or [[akk|dalbānu|t=corridor]] are rejected by Rosół.^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Herodotus describes the Egyptian labyrinth, a great building of many rooms and winding passages built as a memorial of kings.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)^(PHILOGLOSSA)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the Hellenistic period it was above all the labyrinth of Knossos, built by Daedalus for Minos to hold the Minotaur, in Callimachus, Diodorus and Plutarch.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)^(Triantafyllidis 1998) Strabo uses it for the Egyptian and other labyrinths, and an inscription from Miletus for a building at Didyma.^(Beekes 2010)^(PHILOGLOSSA)

+

+ Plato used it figuratively for a tortuous argument from which one cannot find a way out.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010) Theocritus used it for a fish trap of woven rushes.^(CGL 2021) Hesychius glosses it as a spiral place, and says it was used of babblers who talk in circles.^(Hesychius)

+

+ Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|labyrinthus]].^(Wiktionary) Modern Greek [[m|el|λαβύρινθος|tr=lavýrinthos]] is the Cretan labyrinth, any maze, and a tangle of thoughts.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes the Egyptian labyrinth.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of a tortuous argument.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it for the labyrinth of Crete.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it for a fish trap.^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus describes the Cretan labyrinth.^(Beekes 2010)^(PHILOGLOSSA)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|labyrinth]], a large building of rooms joined by intricate passages, as in Egypt and at Knossos.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|maze]], a tortuous argument.^(CGL 2021)^(Beekes 2010)

+ # A fish trap of woven rushes.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A spiral or coiled thing.^(Hesychius)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[λάβρυς|tr=lábrus]]

+ * [[λαύρα|tr=laúra]]

+ * [[la|labyrinthus]]

+ * [[en|labyrinth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}