ῥόδον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βρόδον (bródon) — Aeolic

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *wródon, borrowed from some Eastern language, most likely an (compare Aramaic 𐡅𐡀𐡓𐡃𐡀 (warda), Classical Syriac ܘܪܕܐ (wardā), Old Armenian վարդ (vard), Demotic wrṱ, Arabic وردة (warda), Persian گل (gol) – all from the same source). Or it could possibly be a loan, such as Thracian (the rose was native to Thrace). Based on phonological and historical grounds, borrowing from Iranian is unlikely, according to Rüdiger Schmitt.

Latin rosa (“rose”) is likely a loanword from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /r̥ó.don/ → /ˈro.ðon/ → /ˈro.ðon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /r̥ó.don/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈro.don/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈro.ðon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈro.ðon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈro.ðon/

Noun

ῥόδον • (rhódon) n (genitive ῥόδου); second declension

1. rose (usually Rosa gallica)
2. (in phrases)
   • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 910:

     ῥόδα μ’ εἴρηκας

     rhóda m’ eírēkas

     You've said roses about me.

   • Crates Comicus, 4 :

     ὗς διὰ ῥόδων

     hûs dià rhódōn

     pig among roses (bull in a china shop)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ῥόδον; τοῦ ῥόδου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ῥόδον tò rhódon	τὼ ῥόδω tṑ rhódō	τᾰ̀ ῥόδᾰ tà rhóda
Genitive	τοῦ ῥόδου toû rhódou	τοῖν ῥόδοιν toîn rhódoin	τῶν ῥόδων tôn rhódōn
Dative	τῷ ῥόδῳ tôi rhódōi	τοῖν ῥόδοιν toîn rhódoin	τοῖς ῥόδοις toîs rhódois
Accusative	τὸ ῥόδον tò rhódon	τὼ ῥόδω tṑ rhódō	τᾰ̀ ῥόδᾰ tà rhóda
Vocative	ῥόδον rhódon	ῥόδω rhódō	ῥόδᾰ rhóda
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of τὸ ῥόδον; τοῦ ῥόδου (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ῥόδον tò rhódon	τὼ ῥόδω tṑ rhódō	τᾰ̀ ῥόδᾰ tà rhóda
Genitive	τοῦ ῥόδου toû rhódou	τοῖν ῥόδοιν toîn rhódoin	τῶν ῥόδων tôn rhódōn
Dative	τῷ ῥόδῳ tôi rhódōi	τοῖν ῥόδοιν toîn rhódoin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν ῥόδοισῐ / ῥόδοισῐν / ῥόδοις toîsi(n) rhódoisi(n) / rhódois
Accusative	τὸ ῥόδον tò rhódon	τὼ ῥόδω tṑ rhódō	τᾰ̀ ῥόδᾰ tà rhóda
Vocative	ῥόδον rhódon	ῥόδω rhódō	ῥόδᾰ rhóda
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• ῥόδινος (rhódinos)
• ῥοδοδάκτυλος (rhododáktulos, “rose-fingered”)
• ῥοδόδενδρον (rhodódendron)
• ῥοδόεις (rhodóeis, “rosy”)

Descendants

• Greek: ρόδο (ródo)

Further reading

• “ῥόδον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ῥόδον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ῥόδον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “ῥόδον”, 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^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • rose idem, page 721.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1290