κεράτιον

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 19 April 2015

Etymology

From κέρᾰς (kérăs, “horn”) +‎ -ῐον (-ĭon, diminutive suffix). The sense of “carob“ stems from a Semitic loan and later mingled with the “hornlet” word, compare Arabic قَرَظ (qaraẓ, “acacia”), Classical Syriac ܩܸܪܲܛܵܐ (qerraṭṭā, “acacia; carob”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ke.rǎː.ti.on/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /keˈra.ti.on/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ceˈra.ti.on/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ceˈra.ti.on/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ceˈra.ti.on/

Noun

κερᾱ́τῐον • (kerā́tĭon) n (genitive κερᾱτῐ́ου); second declension

small horn
1. (zoology) antenna of the cerambycid or of the hermit crab
2. (in the plural) curved ends of the womb
3. (music) a musical instrument (perhaps a fife or clarionet)
carat, ¹⁄₁₇₂₈ of a pound (clarification of this definition is needed)
a Byzantine coin of a certain value (clarification of this definition is needed)
alternative form of κερατωνία (keratōnía)
fruit of the carob

Declension

Second declension of τὸ κερᾱ́τῐον; τοῦ κερᾱτῐ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κερᾱ́τῐον tò kerā́tĭon	τὼ κερᾱτῐ́ω tṑ kerātĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ κερᾱ́τῐᾰ tằ kerā́tĭă
Genitive	τοῦ κερᾱτῐ́ου toû kerātĭ́ou	τοῖν κερᾱτῐ́οιν toîn kerātĭ́oin	τῶν κερᾱτῐ́ων tôn kerātĭ́ōn
Dative	τῷ κερᾱτῐ́ῳ tōî kerātĭ́ōi	τοῖν κερᾱτῐ́οιν toîn kerātĭ́oin	τοῖς κερᾱτῐ́οις toîs kerātĭ́ois
Accusative	τὸ κερᾱ́τῐον tò kerā́tĭon	τὼ κερᾱτῐ́ω tṑ kerātĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ κερᾱ́τῐᾰ tằ kerā́tĭă
Vocative	κερᾱ́τῐον kerā́tĭon	κερᾱτῐ́ω kerātĭ́ō	κερᾱ́τῐᾰ kerā́tĭă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(carob, Ceratonia siliqua): κερᾱτωνῐ́ᾱ (kerātōnĭ́ā), κερωνῐ́ᾱ (kerōnĭ́ā), κερᾱτέᾱ (kerātéā), κερᾱτῐ́ᾱ (kerātĭ́ā)
(carob fruit): κερᾱ́τῐᾰ (kerā́tĭă)

Descendants

→ Arabic: قِيرَاط (qīrāṭ)
- → Amharic: ቂራጥ (ḳiraṭ)
- → English: kirat
- → Galician: quilate
- → Ge'ez: ቂራጥ (ḳiraṭ)
- → Italian: carato
- → Middle French: carat
  - → English: carat
- → Portuguese: quilate
- → Spanish: quilate (see there for further descendants)
- → Sicilian: caratu
→ Aramaic:
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: קרט

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: קִירָטָא (qīrāṭā)

Classical Syriac: ܩܱܪܛܳܐ (qarṭā)
→ Hebrew: קָרָט (qārāṭ)
(4) → Coptic: ϭⲁⲣⲁⲧⲉ (carate) (Sahidic)
→ Latin: cerātium

References

“κεράτιον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“κεράτιον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
κεράτιον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
G2769 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
κεράτιον in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 200–201