κυδώνιον Ancient Greek · revision 3239

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1st century AD, Dioscorides|origins=grc Κυδωνία}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ky.dɔ̌ː.ni.on/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /cyˈðo.ni.on/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /cyˈðo.ni.on/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''κῠδώνῐον''' (kudṓnion) ''n'' (genitive κῠδωνίου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is short for “Cydonian [[μῆλον|tr=mêlon|t=apple]]”, the neuter of [[Κυδώνιος|tr=Kudṓnios|t=Cydonian]] used as a noun; the phrase was also made into the compound [[μηλοκυδώνιον|tr=mēlokudṓnion]].^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940) The adjective is from [[Κυδωνία|tr=Kudōnía]], a city of Crete, as Hesychius notes.^(LSJ 1940)^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The lyric poets Alcman and Stesichorus already speak of “Cydonian apples”, meaning quinces, and Ibycus of Cydonian apple trees.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The neuter alone, ''κυδώνια'', is used for the fruit by Dioscorides.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Aristophanes compared a young girl's breasts to quinces with the adjective.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Hesychius records other, figurative senses of ''κυδώνιον'': “great and remarkable”, or “deceitful, abusive”.^(Hesychius)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ Latin borrowed the word as [[m|la|cotōneum]], and it passed into Proto-Slavic as [[m|sla-pro|*kъduňa]].^(Wiktionary) Medieval Greek kept it as [[m|gkm|κυδώνι|tr=kydóni]], the Modern Greek word for the quince.^(Kriaras)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 7th century BC – Alcman mentions Cydonian apples.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Stesichorus mentions Cydonian apples.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 6th century BC – Ibycus mentions Cydonian apple trees.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the adjective of a girl's breasts.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses the neuter plural for quinces.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 12th–17th century – Vernacular Greek has ''κυδώνι''.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|quince]], the fruit.^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940)^(Kriaras)

+ # ''(Hesychius)'' Something great and remarkable; something deceitful or abusive.^(Hesychius)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[μῆλον|tr=mêlon]]

+ * [[la|cotoneum]]

+ * [[en|quince]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}