λάτρον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Putatively from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂t- (to grant; to possess) or *leh₁-t- (to let, grant), thereby cognate with Proto-Germanic *lēþą (possession, ownership) (though there are phonetic problems) and Latin latrō (mercenary).

On the other hand, Beekes rejects the Indo-European etymology and suggests Pre-Greek origin.[1] He considers -ρ- (-r-) in this case to be a Pre-Greek suffix.[2] The Latin cognate may instead be borrowed from an unattested form *λάτρων (*látrōn).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Noun

λάτρον • (látronn (genitive λάτρου); second declension

  1. pay, hire

Declension

Derived terms

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λάτρον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 837–838
  2. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014) “λάτρον”, in Stefan Norbruis, editor, Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 149

Further reading