ἱστός

See also: ιστός and -ιστος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Related to ἵστημι (hístēmi), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /his.tós/ → /isˈtos/ → /isˈtos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /his.tós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)isˈtos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /isˈtos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /isˈtos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /isˈtos/

Noun

ῐ̔στός • (histós) m (genitive ῐ̔στοῦ); second declension

1. mast
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 15.289:

     ἱστὸν δ᾽ εἰλάτινον κοίλης ἔντοσθε μεσόδμης στῆσαν ἀείραντες

     The mast of fir they raised and set in the hollow socket.

2. shinbone
   • Oppian, Cynegetica 1.408
3. an (unknown) constellation
   • 400 CE – 600 CE, Aëtius, Sixteen Books on Medicine 3.164
4. (weaving) beam (of a loom; see usage notes)
5. (weaving) loom
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.491:

     ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε ἱστόν τ᾽ ἠλακάτην τε

     Nay, go thou to the house and busy thyself with thine own tasks, the loom and the distaff.

6. (weaving) web
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.125:

     τὴν δ᾽ εὗρ᾽ ἐν μεγάρῳ: ἣ δὲ μέγαν ἱστὸν ὕφαινε δίπλακα πορφυρέην

     She found Helen in the hall, where she was weaving a great purple web of double fold.

Usage notes

Unlike modern looms, the beam of an Ancient Greek loom stood upright.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ῐ̔στός; τοῦ ῐ̔στοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̔στός ho histós	τὼ ῐ̔στώ tṑ histṓ	οἱ ῐ̔στοί hoi histoí
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̔στοῦ toû histoû	τοῖν ῐ̔στοῖν toîn histoîn	τῶν ῐ̔στῶν tôn histôn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̔στῷ tôi histôi	τοῖν ῐ̔στοῖν toîn histoîn	τοῖς ῐ̔στοῖς toîs histoîs
Accusative	τὸν ῐ̔στόν tòn histón	τὼ ῐ̔στώ tṑ histṓ	τοὺς ῐ̔στούς toùs histoús
Vocative	ῐ̔στέ histé	ῐ̔στώ histṓ	ῐ̔στοί histoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἱστίον (histíon)
• ἱστάριον (histárion)
• ἱστεών (histeṓn)
• ἱστοβοεύς (histoboeús)

• ἱστοδόκη (histodókē)
• ἱστοκεραία (histokeraía)
• ἱστοπέδη (histopédē)
• ἱστόποδες (histópodes)

• ἱστοποιΐα (histopoiḯa)
• ἱστοπόνος (histopónos)
• ἱστότονος (histótonos)
• ἱστουρψός (histourpsós)

Descendants

• English: histo-
• Greek: ιστός m (istós, “mast, loom, web”)

References

• “ἱστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἱστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἱστός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἱστός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἱστός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἱστός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • frame idem, page 342.
  • loom idem, page 499.
  • mast idem, page 516.
  • warp idem, page 964.