βόθρος

This word and the synonymous βόθυνος (bóthunos) have been connected with Lithuanian bedù (“sting, dig”), Latin fodiō (“to dig”) and Middle Welsh bedd (“canal”). In order to explain the discrepancy between Greek β- and Latin f-, dissimilation of Proto-Indo-European *bʰodʰ- to Proto-Hellenic *bodʰ- was assumed, or influence of βαθύς (bathús, “deep, profound”). Beekes prefers to derive the word from Pre-Greek; according to him, even the meaning suggests such origin.

βόθρος • (bóthros) m (genitive βόθρου); second declension

1. hole, trench or pit dug in the ground
2. (in general) hollow, cavity

• Greek: βόθρος (vóthros)

• “βόθρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “βόθρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “βόθρος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• βόθρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βόθρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• βόθρος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βόθρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 224

Semantically similar to Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰh₂- (“to pierce, to dig”), however, the expected outcome of this root in Greek would be **πόθρος (**póthros) (based on Grassmann's law). Pre-Greek origin or influence from Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús, “vertically distant (high/deep)”) are possible alternatives.

βόθρος • (vóthros) m (plural βόθροι)

1. cesspool, cesspit, septic tank

• σηπτική δεξαμενή f (siptikí dexamení, “septic tank”)

• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βόθρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 224

• βόθρος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el