χοῖρος

See also: χοίρος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ϙοῖρος (qoîros) — Cretan

Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Hellenic *kʰóřřos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰóryos (“pig”) (whence Albanian derr (“id”)), from *ǵʰer- (“to be excited, bristly”) +‎ *-yos (owing to the bristliness of wild pigs), whence *ǵʰḗr (“hedgehog”). But in view of the limited distribution, Beekes leaves open the possibility of a Pre-Greek substrate origin for the Greek and Albanian terms.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰôi̯.ros/ → /ˈçy.ros/ → /ˈçi.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰôi̯.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰy.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈçy.ros/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /ˈçy.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈçi.ros/

Noun

χοῖρος • (khoîros) m (genitive χοίρου); second declension

1. a pig, especially a young one.
   • 425 BCE, Aristophanes, The Acharnians 521:

     Κεἴ που σίκυον ἴδοιεν ἢ λαγῴδιον
     ἢ χοιρίδιον ἢ σκόροδον ἢ χόνδρους ἅλας,
     ταῦτ’ ἦν “Μεγαρικὰ” κἀπέπρατ’ αὐθημερόν.

     Keí pou síkuon ídoien ḕ lagōídion
     ḕ khoirídion ḕ skórodon ḕ khóndrous hálas,
     taût’ ên “Megarikà” kapéprat’ authēmerón.

     And if they see a cucumber or a young hare
     or a piglet or a clove of garlic or a granule of salt,
     They would shout "Megarian!" and take it all away.

2. (generally) swine

   Synonyms: σῦς (sûs), ὗς (hûs)

3. (slang, vulgar) female genitalia (especially those of a young woman)

   Synonyms: κύσθος (kústhos), λειμών (leimṓn)

   • 425 BCE, Aristophanes, The Acharnians 782–783:

     Νῦν γε χοῖρος φαίνεται.
     ἀτὰρ ἐκτραφείς γε κύσθος ἔσται.

     Nûn ge khoîros phaínetai.
     atàr ektrapheís ge kústhos éstai.

     Now it looks like a pussy.
     But once it's been reared, it'll be a cunt.

4. a fish of the Nile
   • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 17.2.4

Usage notes

• For the semantic shift of “pig” to “female genitalia”, compare the same Latin use of porcus.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ χοῖρος; τοῦ χοίρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ χοῖρος ho khoîros	τὼ χοίρω tṑ khoírō	οἱ χοῖροι hoi khoîroi
Genitive	τοῦ χοίρου toû khoírou	τοῖν χοίροιν toîn khoíroin	τῶν χοίρων tôn khoírōn
Dative	τῷ χοίρῳ tōî khoírōi	τοῖν χοίροιν toîn khoíroin	τοῖς χοίροις toîs khoírois
Accusative	τὸν χοῖρον tòn khoîron	τὼ χοίρω tṑ khoírō	τοὺς χοίρους toùs khoírous
Vocative	χοῖρε khoîre	χοίρω khoírō	χοῖροι khoîroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (swine): ὗς (hûs), σῦς (sûs)

Derived terms

• ἀγριόχοιρος (agriókhoiros)
• ἀκανθόχοιρος (akanthókhoiros)
• καλλίχοιρος (kallíkhoiros)
• χοίρα (khoíra)
• χοιραδικός (khoiradikós)
• χοιραδώδης (khoiradṓdēs)
• χοιράς (khoirás)
• χοιράφιον (khoiráphion)
• Χοιρεᾶται (Khoireâtai)
• χοίρειος (khoíreios)
• χοιρεών (khoireṓn)
• χοιρίδιον (khoirídion)
• χοιρίζω (khoirízō)
• χοιρίημα (khoiríēma)
• χοιρικός (khoirikós)
• χοιρίνας (khoirínas)
• χοιρίνη (khoirínē)
• χοίρινος (khoírinos)
• χοιρίον (khoiríon)
• χοιρίσκος (khoirískos)
• Χοιροβοσκός (Khoiroboskós)
• χοιροδέλφαξ (khoirodélphax)
• χοιροκομεῖον (khoirokomeîon)
• χοιροπῐ́θηκος (khoiropĭ́thēkos)
• χοιροπώλης (khoiropṓlēs)
• χοιροτροφεῖον (khoirotropheîon)
• χοιροφορέω (khoirophoréō)
• χοιρώδης (khoirṓdēs)
• χοιρωδία (khoirōdía)

Descendants

• Greek: χοίρος (choíros)

Further reading

• “χοῖρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χοῖρος” in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• χοῖρος in Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Max Sengebusch, editor, Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache‎^[1] (in German), 3rd edition, Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn
• χοῖρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “χοῖρος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “χοῖρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Strong, James (1979), “G5519”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • hog idem, page 402.
  • pig idem, page 612.
  • swine idem, page 849.
• Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980), “χοῖρος [khoîros]”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, page 1266–1267 of 1266–1267
• Frisk, Hjalmar (1970), “χοῖρος”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pages 1107–1108
• Lamberterie, Charles de (1980), “Échange de gutturales en arménien”, in Annual of Armenian linguistics (in French), volume 1, pages 25–26
• χοῖρος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011