πτίλον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

Of uncertain origin, with suggestions including Pre-Greek origin as shown by the alternative form ψίλον (psílon), relation to πέτομαι (pétomai, to fly) (e.g., via a Proto-Indo-European preform *pth₂-il-o-m), or to the Latin pilus (a hair).[1]

Related to Mycenaean Greek 𐀠𐀴𐁊𐀸𐀭 (pi-ti-ryo-we-sa /⁠ptilowessa⁠/, decorated with a feather pattern).[2]

Pronunciation

 

Noun

πτῐ́λον • (ptílon) n (genitive πτῐ́λου); second declension (Attic)

  1. feather, especially a down feather
    1. the down of a youth's face
    2. plumelet
  2. wing, properly of insects
    1. the wing-like membrane in a kind of serpents
  3. anything like a feather or wing
    1. leaf
    2. (in the plural) the sails of a ship

Declension

Derived terms

  • Ψῐ́λαξ (Psílax) (via the Doric form ψίλον)

Descendants

References

  1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πτίλον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1249
  2. John Chadwick, Lydia Baumbach (1963) “The Mycenaean Greek Vocabulary”, in Glotta : Zeitschrift für griechische und lateinische Sprache, volume 41, number 3/4, Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG), →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 240 of 157–271:πτίλον
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