ζάκορος
Ancient Greek
Etymology
Hieratic professional term. Semantically related and formally comparable is νεωκόρος (neōkóros, “custodian of a temple”). Here ζα- may stand for δα-, as in ζάπεδον (zápedon) for δάπεδον (dápedon, “floor”). Then this word could be related to κορέω (koréō, “to sweep”) and thus meaning "cleaner of the house". However, this seems rather doubtful. According to Beekes, the word must in any case be Aeolic.
It is explainable as a Semitic borrowing, attested in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic זכורא / ܙܟܘܪܐ (zakkūrā, “soothsayer, necromancer”), Akkadian 𒊓𒆠𒊒 (sa-qi₂-ru /zākiru, sāqiru/, “one who invokes (names)”), which, also rendered דכורא (dakkūrā) to appear more genuinely Aramaic (Proto-Semitic *ḏ regularly gives Akkadian and Hebrew z but Aramaic d), is a reinterpretation rare in Akkadian itself after the cultically relevant root *ḏ-k-r (“recollection, commemoration”), from Akkadian 𒊓𒄭𒊒 (sa-ḫi-ru /sāḫiru/, “encircling, ensnaring; a kind of sorcerer; itinerant, tramp, peddler”), which relates to the Arabic س ح ر (s-ḥ-r) “bewitching”.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /zá.ko.ros/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
Noun
ζᾰ́κορος • (zákoros) m or f (genitive ζᾰκόρου); second declension
- attendant in a temple, more honorable than νεωκόρος (neōkóros)
Inflection
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ὁ, ἡ ζᾰ́κορος ho, hē zákoros | τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zakórō | οἱ, αἱ ζᾰ́κοροι hoi, hai zákoroi | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ, τῆς ζᾰκόρου toû, tês zakórou | τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zakóroin | τῶν ζᾰκόρων tôn zakórōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ, τῇ ζᾰκόρῳ tôi, têi zakórōi | τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zakóroin | τοῖς, ταῖς ζᾰκόροις toîs, taîs zakórois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸν, τὴν ζᾰ́κορον tòn, tḕn zákoron | τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zakórō | τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ζᾰκόρους toùs, tā̀s zakórous | ||||||||||
Vocative | ζᾰ́κορε zákore | ζᾰκόρω zakórō | ζᾰ́κοροι zákoroi | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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Derived terms
- ἀρχῐζᾰ́κορος (arkhizákoros)
- ζᾰκορεύω (zakoreúō)
- ὑποζᾰ́κορος (hupozákoros)
Further reading
- “ζάκορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “ζάκορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- ζάκορος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- 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
- Schwally, Friedrich (1891), “Miscellen”, in Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (in German), volume 11, pages 178–180
- “zkwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–