πύργος
Ancient Greek
Etymology
The word is first attested in Homer, Iliad 7.219. Believed to be a borrowed word, perhaps from Urartian 𒁓𒂵𒈾 (bur-ga-na /burgana/, “pillar, column; altar, base, or built-up foundation”), however this may itself be a loan with no known Hurrian cognate; compare also Old Armenian բուրգն (burgn, “pyramid”). Others connect the word to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high”), with cognates including Sanskrit बृहत् (bṛhát, “lofty, high, tall”), Old Armenian բարձր (barjr, “high”) and Old English burg (English borough). Kretschmer suggested a borrowing from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“fortified town, hill-fort”) mediated through some Northern Balkans language (Ancient Macedonian?). For Beekes, the abundance of Pre-Greek placenames, like e. g. Πέργαμον (Pérgamon), seems to indicate a Pre-Greek origin.
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /pýr.ɡos/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈpyr.ɡos/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈpyr.ɣos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈpyr.ɣos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈpir.ɣos/
Noun
πῠ́ργος • (púrgos) m (genitive πῠ́ργου); second declension
- tower, watchtower
- (in the plural) towered wall
- the part of the house where women live
- castle, fortress, bulwark
- (military) division, column
Inflection
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ὁ πῠ́ργος ho púrgos | τὼ πῠ́ργω tṑ púrgō | οἱ πῠ́ργοι hoi púrgoi | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ πῠ́ργου toû púrgou | τοῖν πῠ́ργοιν toîn púrgoin | τῶν πῠ́ργων tôn púrgōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ πῠ́ργῳ tôi púrgōi | τοῖν πῠ́ργοιν toîn púrgoin | τοῖς πῠ́ργοις toîs púrgois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸν πῠ́ργον tòn púrgon | τὼ πῠ́ργω tṑ púrgō | τοὺς πῠ́ργους toùs púrgous | ||||||||||
Vocative | πῠ́ργε púrge | πῠ́ργω púrgō | πῠ́ργοι púrgoi | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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Derived terms
- πῠργοφῠ́λᾰξ (purgophúlax)
- Πυργούσσα (Purgoússa)
Descendants
- Greek: πύργος (pýrgos)
- →? Albanian: burg
- →? Late Latin: burgus (see there for further descendants)
- → Turkish: burgaz
Further reading
- “πύργος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “πύργος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “πύργος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- πύργος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- πύργος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “πύργος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G4444 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- belfry idem, page 72.
- bulwark idem, page 103.
- defence idem, page 204.
- harbour idem, page 385.
- keep idem, page 467.
- pinnacle idem, page 614.
- protection idem, page 653.
- refuge idem, page 685.
- tower idem, page 884.
- turret idem, page 902.
- 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
Greek
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πύργος (púrgos).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpiɾ.ɣos/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: πύρ‧γος
Noun
πύργος • (pýrgos) m (plural πύργοι)
- tower
- κεντρικός πύργος ― kentrikós pýrgos ― central tower, castle keep
- (chess) rook
Declension
case \\ number | singular | plural |
---|---|---|
nominative | πύργος • | πύργοι • |
genitive | πύργου • | πύργων • |
accusative | πύργο • | πύργους • |
vocative | πύργε • | πύργοι • |
Derived terms
- ακροπύργιο n (akropýrgio, “castle keep”)
See also
Chess pieces in Greek · πεσσοί (pessoí) (layout · text) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
βασιλιάς (vasiliás) | βασίλισσα (vasílissa) | πύργος (pýrgos) | αξιωματικός (axiomatikós), τρελός (trelós) | ίππος (íppos) | στρατιώτης (stratiótis), πιόνι (pióni) |