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σῖτος

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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Of uncertain origin, though probably of Indo-European origin. Similar words in other languages include Proto-Balto-Slavic *géiˀta (grain, corn), Proto-Germanic *hwaitijaz (wheat), Basque zitu (corn, harvest), and Sumerian [script needed] (zid, flour), which are often taken as donor languages to Greek.[1]

A more recent theory by Janda has explained it as the substantivization of an adjective *σῑτό- (*sītó-, threshed), derived from Proto-Indo-European *tih₂-tó- (struck), a participle from the newly suggested verbal root *tyeh₂- (to strike, hit), which is apparently also seen in Hittite [script needed] (zāḫ-ᶦ, to hit, beat). Then σῆμα (sêma, sign, mark) (< *tiéh₂-mn (what is carved)), σῶμα (sôma, corpse) (< *tióh₂-mn (the killed one)), and σῑμός (sīmós, snub-nosed) (< *tih₂-mó- (flattened)) could be related.[2] Beekes is doubtful of Janda's derivation, due to the wide range of supposed meanings within only one language (Greek) and the lack of a direct "strike" meaning within Greek.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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σῖτος (sîtosm (genitive σῑ́του); second declension

  1. grain, corn (in the British sense, encompassing wheat and barley, the cereal grains used by the ancient Greeks)
  2. grains and lentils
  3. bread (as opposed to meat)
  4. food (as opposed to drink)

Usage notes

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This noun is neuter in the plural.

Inflection

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Singular (masculine):

Plural (neuter):

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • English: sito-
  • Greek: σίτος (sítos)
  • Italian: sito-

References

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  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “σῖτος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1336-7
  2. ^ Michael Janda, Σῶμα – σῆμα and Socrates' snub nose: The new IE root ti̯ah2- “to strike”, paper presented at the Colloquium Indo-European and its neighbours in combination with the 2. Indogermanistischen Arbeitstagung Münster/Leiden, Leiden, 6 June 2005.

Further reading

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