ὀρείχαλκος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Looks like the dative singular of ὄρος (óros, “mountain”) + χαλκός (khalkós, “copper”), however the same way Latin has connected the first part as aurīchalcum to aurum (“gold”) this is also a folk-etymology and the first part is rather Akkadian 𒍏 (URUD /⁠ēru, wēru⁠/, “copper”), making a tautological compound.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /o.rěː.kʰal.kos/ → /oˈri.xal.kos/ → /oˈri.xal.kos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.rěː.kʰal.kos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈri.kʰal.kos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/

Noun

ὀρείχᾰλκος • (oreíkhalkos) m (genitive ὀρειχᾰ́λκου); second declension

1. brass made from yellow copper ore; an alloy of copper and "mock silver" (presumably zinc)
   • c. 23 CE, Strabo, chapter 1.56, in Γεωγραφικά, volume XIII:

     λίθος [...] μετὰ γῆς τινος καμινευθεὶς ἀποστάζει ψευδάργυρον͵ ἣ προσλαβοῦσα χαλκὸν τὸ καλούμενον γίνεται κρᾶμα͵ ὅ τινες ὀρείχαλκον καλοῦσι

     líthos [...] metà gês tinos kamineutheìs apostázei pseudárguron͵ hḕ proslaboûsa khalkòn tò kaloúmenon gínetai krâma͵ hó tines oreíkhalkon kaloûsi

     a stone [...] which heated in a furnace with a certain earth distils mock silver (zinc); and this, with the addition of copper, makes the so-called "mixture" (alloy), which by some is called "orichalcum"

2. orichalcum, a natural or mythical valuable alloy of copper and perhaps gold
   • c. 7th century BCE, Homer (attributed, unlikely), Ὁμηρικὸς ὕμνος ε' "Εἰς Ἀφροδίτην":

     [...] ἐν δὲ τρητοῖσι λοβοῖσιν ἄνθεμ’ ὀρειχάλκου χρυσοῖό τε τιμήεντος

     [...] en dè trētoîsi loboîsin ánthem’ oreikhálkou khrusoîó te timḗentos

     [...] and in her perforated ears earrings of orichalcum and of precious gold

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ὀρείχᾰλκος; τοῦ ὀρειχᾰ́λκου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὀρείχᾰλκος ho oreíkhalkos	τὼ ὀρειχᾰ́λκω tṑ oreikhálkō	οἱ ὀρείχᾰλκοι hoi oreíkhalkoi
Genitive	τοῦ ὀρειχᾰ́λκου toû oreikhálkou	τοῖν ὀρειχᾰ́λκοιν toîn oreikhálkoin	τῶν ὀρειχᾰ́λκων tôn oreikhálkōn
Dative	τῷ ὀρειχᾰ́λκῳ tôi oreikhálkōi	τοῖν ὀρειχᾰ́λκοιν toîn oreikhálkoin	τοῖς ὀρειχᾰ́λκοις toîs oreikhálkois
Accusative	τὸν ὀρείχᾰλκον tòn oreíkhalkon	τὼ ὀρειχᾰ́λκω tṑ oreikhálkō	τοὺς ὀρειχᾰ́λκους toùs oreikhálkous
Vocative	ὀρείχᾰλκε oreíkhalke	ὀρειχᾰ́λκω oreikhálkō	ὀρείχᾰλκοι oreíkhalkoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ὀρειχᾰ́λκῐνος (oreikhálkinos)

Descendants

• → Greek: ορείχαλκος (oreíchalkos) (learned)
• → Latin: orīchalcum
  • → English: orichalcum (learned)
  • → Spanish: oricalco (learned)
  • → French: orichalque (learned)
  • → Italian: oricalco (learned)
• → Latin: aurīchalcum
  • → Spanish: auricalco (learned)
  • → Russian: аврихальк (avrixalʹk) (learned)
• → German: Oreichalk (learned)
• → Russian: орихалк (orixalk) (learned)

Further reading

• Orichalcum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “ὀρείχαλκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ὀρείχαλκος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Szemerényi, Oswald (1974) “The origins of the Greek lexicon: Ex Oriente Lux”, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies‎^[1], volume 94, →DOI, pages 151–152