ζάκορος

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Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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Hieratic professional term. Semantically related and formally comparable is νεωκόρος (neōkóros, custodian of a temple). Here ζα- may stand for δα-, as in ζάπεδον (zápedon) for δάπεδον (dápedon, floor). Then this word could be related to κορέω (koréō, to sweep) and thus meaning "cleaner of the house". However, this seems rather doubtful. According to Beekes, the word must in any case be Aeolic.

It is explainable as a Semitic borrowing, attested in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic זכורא / ܙܟܘܪܐ (zakkūrā, soothsayer, necromancer), Akkadian 𒊓𒆠𒊒 (sa-qi₂-ru /⁠zākiru, sāqiru⁠/, one who invokes (names)), which, also rendered דכורא (dakkūrā) to appear more genuinely Aramaic (Proto-Semitic *ḏ regularly gives Akkadian and Hebrew z but Aramaic d), is a reinterpretation rare in Akkadian itself after the cultically relevant root *ḏ-k-r (recollection, commemoration), from Akkadian 𒊓𒄭𒊒 (sa-ḫi-ru /⁠sāḫiru⁠/, encircling, ensnaring; a kind of sorcerer; itinerant, tramp, peddler), which relates to the Arabic س ح ر (s-ḥ-r) “bewitching”.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ζᾰ́κορος (zákorosm or f (genitive ζᾰκόρου); second declension

  1. attendant in a temple, more honorable than νεωκόρος (neōkóros)

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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