διφθέρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The origin is uncertain, possibly from Proto-Hellenic *dipʰtʰérā. Related to διψάρα (dipsára, “writing-tablet; piece of leather”) and Mycenaean Greek 𐀇𐁇𐀨 (di-pte-ra).

Since de Saussure, connected with δέφω (déphō) or δέψω (dépsō, “to soften (with the hand)”). Beekes argues that this connection and the alternation between φ (ph) and ψ (ps) point to a Pre-Greek origin.

Compare also Old Persian 𐎮𐎡𐎱𐎡 (di-i-p-i /⁠dipi⁠/), Akkadian 𒁾 (ṭuppu, “tablet, document, letter”) and Sumerian 𒁾 (dub, “tablet”), Sumerian 𒁾𒊬 (dub-sar, “writer, scribe”).

Pronunciation

Noun

διφθέρᾱ • (diphthérā) f (genitive διφθέρᾱς); first declension

1. prepared hide, piece of leather; especially as writing material
   • 60-30 BC, Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, book 2, chapter 32:

     τῶν βασιλικῶν διφθερῶν

     tôn basilikôn diphtherôn

     of the Royal Archives

2. anything made of leather
   1. wallet, bag
   2. (in the plural) skins used as tents
      • 4th century BC, Xenophon, Anabasis, book 1, chapter 5 (Greek, English):

        διφθέρας ἃς εἶχον στεγάσματα ἐπίμπλασαν χόρτου κούφου, εἶτα συνῆγον καὶ συνέσπων, ὡς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι τῆς κάρφης τὸ ὕδωρ

        diphthéras hàs eîkhon stegásmata epímplasan khórtou koúphou, eîta sunêgon kaì sunéspōn, hōs mḕ háptesthai tês kárphēs tò húdōr

        they took skins which they had for tent covers, filled them with hay, and then brought the edges together and sewed them up, so that the water could not touch the hay.

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• “διφθέρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “διφθέρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• διφθέρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• διφθέρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• διφθέρα in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • dressed skin idem, page 252.
  • leather idem, page 483.
  • leather garment idem, page 483.
  • skin idem, page 781.
  • vellum idem, page 946.
• Ferdinand de Saussure (1892), Varia. In: MSL, 7, page 91
• Chantraine, Pierre (1968) “διφθέρα”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), volume I, Paris: Klincksieck, pages 287–288
• Frisk, Hjalmar (1960) “διφθέρα”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume I, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 400a
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 320, 341
• Bailey, H. W. (1933) “Western Iranian Dialects”, in Transactions of the Philological Society, volume 32, number 1, page 50
• Krauss, Samuel (1899) Griechische und lateinische Lehnwörter in Talmud, Midrasch und Targum (in German), volume II, Berlin: S. Calvary, page 211a
• “dptr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/daftar-mid