ἕρκος

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No

Last modification

Tue, 08/04/2026 - 12:30

Word-form

εἱρκτή

Transliteration (Word)

heirktē

English translation (word)

inclosure, prison

Transliteration (Etymon)

herkos

English translation (etymon)

fence, enclosure, wall for defence

Author

Etym. Gudianum

Century

11 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etym. Magnum, p. 377

Ed.

E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1965)

Quotation

⟦Ἑ⟧ρσήεις· ὁ ἐν ὕδατι πεπνιγμένος· ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴρ⟦γ⟧ειν καὶ ἐπέχειν τῶν ἀναπνοῶν, ὅθεν καὶ εἱρκτή ἀπὸ τοῦ ἕρκος εἶναι. 

Translation (En)

Hersēeis "full of dew", the one asphyxiated in water. From eirgein "to hinder" and to refrain from breathing. From there also comes heirktē "prison", from herkos "fence"

Comment

Derivational etymology requiring the change of /e/ to /ei/. The meaning of the etymon is similar to that of the lemma, and this is a case where the lemma is etymologized by a synonym. It is unclear how this etymology is inserted here, for it has nothing to do with the lemma. Probably because the assumed lemma of ἑρσήεις is εἴργω, which is widely assumed to be the etymon of εἱρκτή. This is why the compiler added "from there comes also εἱρκτή", and added an alternative etymology for εἱρκτή. The result is that in the wording of the Gudianum, εἱρκτή is etymologized only by ἕρκος and no longer by εἴργω which is the reason of the introduction of the word in this entry. Afterwards, it is repeated in the same context, in entries for words meaning "dew", "dew drops", vel sim.

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, p. 377 ((s.v. ἕρσαι) Ὅθεν καὶ εἱρκτὴ, παρὰ τὸ ἕρκος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p.875 (idem); ibid., p. 631 (Εἰρκτή. ἡ φυλακή. παρὰ τὸ ἕρκος)

Modern etymology

Derivative of εἴργω "to fence in" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ειρκτή as a juridical term

Entry By

Le Feuvre