ἐρυθρός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *erutʰrós, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rudʰrós (“red”), from the root *h₁rewdʰ-.

Compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀬𐀲𐀨 (e-ru-ta-ra). Cognates include Russian рёдрый (rjódryj), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá), Latin ruber, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, and Proto-Germanic *raudaz (English red). Note that Greek is the only branch to preserve the sound of the laryngeal *h₁ at the beginning of the word, which became ε (e).

Pronunciation

Adjective

ἐρῠθρός • (eruthrós) m (feminine ἐρῠθρᾱ́, neuter ἐρῠθρόν); first/second declension

1. reddish, red

   Synonym: πῠρρός (purrhós)

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.365–367:

     ᾰ̓́λλον δ’ ἐνθένδε χρῡσὸν καὶ χᾰλκὸν ἐρῠθρὸν ἠδὲ γῠναῖκᾰς ἐῠ̈ζώνους πολῐόν τε σῐ́δηρον ᾰ̓́ξομαι

     állon d’ enthénde khrūsòn kaì khalkòn eruthròn ēdè gunaîkas eüzṓnous polión te sídēron áxomai

     From there I will bring more gold and red bronze and fair-girdled women and much iron

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.165–166:

     αὐτᾰ̀ρ ἐγὼ σῖτον καὶ ῠ̔́δωρ καὶ οἶνον ἐρῠθρὸν ἐνθήσω μενοεικέ’

     autàr egṑ sîton kaì húdōr kaì oînon eruthròn enthḗsō menoeiké’

     And I'll put satisfying food and water and red wine on

   • 6th century BC, Theognis of Megara, Elegies 449–450:

     εὑρήσεις δέ με πᾶσῐν ἐπ’ ἔργμᾰσῐν ὥσπερ ᾰ̓́πεφθον χρῡσὸν ἐρῠθρὸν ῐ̓δεῖν τρῑβόμενον βᾰσᾰ́νῳ

     heurḗseis dé me pâsin ep’ érgmasin hṓsper ápephthon khrūsòn eruthròn ideîn trībómenon basánōi

     You will find me in all my actions like refined gold, red to the eye when rubbed against a touchstone

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

• → English: erythro-
• Greek: ερυθρός (erythrós)

References

• “ἐρυθρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐρυθρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐρυθρός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐρυθρός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ἐρυθρός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἐρυθρός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2063 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • florid idem, page 329.
  • lurid idem, page 505.
  • red idem, page 684.
  • ruddy idem, page 724.