ξύλον

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Ancient Greek

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FWOTD – 11 November 2015

Etymology

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Seemingly from a Proto-Indo-European *ksewlo-, which is traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”) or from *ḱes- (“to cut”), and compared with Lithuanian šùlas (“post, pole, stave”), Russian шу́ло (šúlo, “garden-pole”) (from Proto-Slavic *šulo), Serbo-Croatian šȗlj (“block”), Old High German sūl (“style, pole”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐍃 (sauls, “pillar”).

However, Beekes is skeptical of ultimate Indo-European origin, and suspects the Greek, Balto-Slavic, and Germanic terms to be borrowed from a common substrate source.[1] See also ξύω (xúō, “to scrape, polish”), ξόανον (xóanon, “wooden image”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ξῠ́λον • (xúlon) n (genitive ξῠ́λου); second declension

  1. (mostly in plural) cut wood, timber
    Synonyms: κᾶλον (kâlon), κάστον (káston)
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.507:
      ἐπὶ δὲ ξύλα πολλὰ λέγεσθε, ὥς κεν παννύχιοι μέσφ’ ἠοῦς ἠριγενείης καίωμεν πυρὰ πολλά
      epì dè xúla pollà légesthe, hṓs ken pannúkhioi mésph’ ēoûs ērigeneíēs kaíōmen purà pollá
      And furthermore gather abundant wood, that all night long until early dawn we may burn fires full many.
  2. piece of wood, log, beam, post
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.327:
      ἕστηκε ξύλον αὖον ὅσον τ’ ὄργυι’ ὑπὲρ αἴης
      héstēke xúlon aûon hóson t’ órgui’ hupèr aíēs
      There standeth, a fathom's height above the ground, a dry stump.
  3. cudgel, club, stick
    • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.63.1:
      οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν ξύλων κορύνας ἔχοντες ἑστᾶσι τοῦ ἱροῦ ἐν τῇ ἐσόδῳ
      hoi dè polloì autôn xúlōn korúnas ékhontes hestâsi toû hiroû en têi esódōi
      […] while most of them go and stand in the entrance to the temple with clubs in their hands.
  4. an instrument of punishment: wooden collar, stocks, gallows, stake
    • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.75.2:
      ποιέοντα δὲ αὐτὸν ταῦτα καὶ παραφρονήσαντα ἔδησαν οἱ προσήκοντες ἐν ξύλῳ
      poiéonta dè autòn taûta kaì paraphronḗsanta édēsan hoi prosḗkontes en xúlōi
      For doing this, and because he was out of his mind, his relative bound him in the stocks.
  5. bench, table
    • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Stephanus 1 33:
      ἔστιν οὖν ὅστις ἂν τοῦ ξύλου καὶ τοῦ χωρίου καὶ τῶν γραμματείων τοσαύτην ὑπέμεινε φέρειν μίσθωσιν
      éstin oûn hóstis àn toû xúlou kaì toû khōríou kaì tôn grammateíōn tosaútēn hupémeine phérein místhōsin
      Now, is there any man who would have submitted to the payment of so large a rental for the table, the site, and the books?
  6. tree
    • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 6.4.5:
      τὸ δὲ παρὰ θάλατταν πλέον ἢ ἐπὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους δασὺ πολλοῖς καὶ παντοδαποῖς καὶ μεγάλοις ξύλοις
      tò dè parà thálattan pléon ḕ epì eíkosi stadíous dasù polloîs kaì pantodapoîs kaì megálois xúlois
      The land bordering the coast is thickly covered for more than twenty stadia with an abundance of heavy trees of all sorts.
  7. blockhead
  8. a measure of length: 3 or 2+2⁄3 cubits
    • 10 CE – 70 CE, Hero, Geometrica 23.4.11

Declension

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Second declension of τὸ ξῠ́λον; τοῦ ξῠ́λου (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative τὸ ξῠ́λον
tò xúlon 		τὼ ξῠ́λω
tṑ xúlō 		τᾰ̀ ξῠ́λᾰ
tà xúla
Genitive τοῦ ξῠ́λου
toû xúlou 		τοῖν ξῠ́λοιν
toîn xúloin 		τῶν ξῠ́λων
tôn xúlōn
Dative τῷ ξῠ́λῳ
tôi xúlōi 		τοῖν ξῠ́λοιν
toîn xúloin 		τοῖς ξῠ́λοις
toîs xúlois
Accusative τὸ ξῠ́λον
tò xúlon 		τὼ ξῠ́λω
tṑ xúlō 		τᾰ̀ ξῠ́λᾰ
tà xúla
Vocative ξῠ́λον
xúlon 		ξῠ́λω
xúlō 		ξῠ́λᾰ
xúla
Notes:

Other attested forms: plural ξῠ́λεᾰ (xúlea) (inscription in Kos)

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Dutch: xylo-
  • English: xylo-
  • Greek: ξύλο (xýlo)
  • Mariupol Greek: кси́ла (ksíla), кси́лу (ksílu)
  • Irish: xili-
  • Italian: xilo-
  • Spanish: xilo-

References

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  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ξύλον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1037-8

Further reading

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