ἀψίνθιον

Ancient Greek

ἀψίνθιον

Alternative forms

  • ἄψινθος (ápsinthos), ἀψινθία (apsinthía), ἀψινθή (apsinthḗ), ἀψίνθιν (apsínthin), ἀσπίνθιον (aspínthion)

Etymology

The cluster -ινθ- (-inth-) suggests a Pre-Greek source, as in τέρμινθος (términthos, “terebinth”), ἐρέβινθος (erébinthos, “chickpea”), μίνθη (mínthē, “mint”), ὑάκινθος (huákinthos, “hyacinth”), πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”), μήρινθος (mḗrinthos, “cord, line”), κήρινθος (kḗrinthos, “bee bread”), λαβύρινθος (labúrinthos, “labyrinth”).[1][2] Also, the variant ἀσπίνθιον (aspínthion) with /sp/ instead of /ps/ may point to borrowing from Pre-Greek.[3][4]

Related to the source of Old Armenian աւշինդր (awšindr, “wormwood”).

Pronunciation

 

Noun

ἀψίνθιον • (apsínthion) n (genitive ἀψινθίου); second declension

  1. wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
    • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 1.5.1:
      Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τόπῳ ἦν μὲν ἡ γῆ πεδίον ἅπαν ὁμαλὲς ὥσπερ θάλαττα, ἀψινθίου δὲ πλῆρες·
      En toútōi dè tôi tópōi ên mèn hē gê pedíon hápan homalès hṓsper thálatta, apsinthíou dè plêres;
      In this region the ground was all a plain, flat like the sea, and full of wormwood.
  2. vermouth, wine spiced by wormwood

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: αψίνθιον (apsínthion) (Katharevousa), αψινθιά (apsinthiá), αψιθιά (apsithiá)
  • → Arabic: أَفْسِنْتِين (ʔafsintīn), إِفْسَنْتِين (ʔifsantīn)
    • → Persian: افسنتین
      • → Gujarati: અફસંતીન (aphasantīn)
      • → Hindi: अफ़संतीन (afsantīn)
      • → Punjabi: ਅਫਸੰਤੀਨ (aphasantīn)
  • → Aramaic:
    Galilean: אפסינתינון (ap̄sinṭīnōn)
    Babylonian: אפסנתין (ap̄sinṭīn)
    Syriac: ܐܦܣܢܬܝܢ (ap̄sinṭīn), ܐܦܣܢܬܝܘܢ (ap̄sinṭiōn)
  • → Latin: absinthium (see there for further descendants)
  • → Old Georgian: აფსინდი (apsindi), აფსინთი (apsinti)

References

  1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page xxxviii: “72. -ινθ-(ο-)”
  2. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014) Stefan Norbruis, editor, Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 37: “81 -ινθ-(ο-)”
  3. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page xxvi: “6a. ψ / σπ, b. ξ / σκ.”
  4. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014) Stefan Norbruis, editor, Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 18: “6. a. ψ / σπ, b. ξ / σκ.”

Further reading

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