ἴουλος

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Ἴουλος

Ancient Greek[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

According to Beekes, from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (to turn, wind, round), the same root of οὖλος (oûlos, wooly, fuzzy) and εἰλέω (eiléō, to turn, wind). However according to targum exegetes it could be borrowed from Phoenician *𐤉𐤋 (*yūl) from the Proto-Semitic lizard name *waral-. This form and similar meanings can be reconstructed on the basis of the animal name’s Jewish Literary Aramaic measure יָלָא (yālā), alternating with יַלָּא (yallā), since /aː/ regularly comes out /uː/ in Phoenician-Punic (like 𐤓𐤀𐤔 (rʾš /⁠rūš⁠/, head) from *raʾš- (head)). In Jewish Aramaic it also meant a kind of blood-sucking animal, and even closer to the original meaning of a worral would be the Greek senses of certain earth-graving insects. “The first growth of the whiskers and beard” would then be transferred from the image of the undersides of the throats of certain lizards; corn-sheaves afford a similar picture. From any of these meanings the sense of a catkin can be transferred.

Pronunciation[edit]

 

Noun[edit]

ἴουλος (íoulosm (genitive ἰούλου); second declension

  1. down, the first growth of the whiskers and beard
  2. corn sheaf
  3. (botany) catkin; tendril
  4. creature like the centipede, perhaps the woodlouse or the earthworm

Inflection[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Greek: ίουλος (íoulos)
  • Latin: iūlus

Further reading[edit]