ὄρυξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Related to ὀρύσσω (orússō, “I dig, scrape”), though this is likely a back-formation of ὄρυξ (órux). Likely cognate with Latin runcō (“I grub up”). The sense of oryx is likely a loanword accreted by analogy with the animal's pointed horns.

Noun

ὄρυξ • (órux) m (genitive ὄρυγος); third declension

1. A pickaxe or other sharp iron digging tool
2. An oryx
3. A kind of whale, perhaps a narwhal.

References

• “ὄρυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὄρυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ὄρυξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette