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
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /o.rěː.kʰal.kos/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /oˈri.kʰal.kos/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /oˈri.xal.kos/
Noun
ὀρείχᾰλκος • (oreíkhalkos) m (genitive ὀρειχᾰ́λκου); second declension
- brass made from yellow copper ore; an alloy of copper and "mock silver" (presumably zinc)
- ca 23 AD, 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
- 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"
- orichalcum, a natural or mythical valuable alloy of copper and perhaps gold
- ca 7th c. BC, 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
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: |
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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
- → 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, , pages 151–152
Categories:
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Akkadian
- Ancient Greek 4-syllable words
- Ancient Greek terms with IPA pronunciation
- Ancient Greek lemmas
- Ancient Greek nouns
- Ancient Greek proparoxytone terms
- Ancient Greek masculine nouns
- Ancient Greek second-declension nouns
- Ancient Greek masculine nouns in the second declension
- Ancient Greek terms with quotations
- grc:Alloys