ὀβελός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὀβολός (obolós)
ὀδελός (odelós) — Doric
ὀβελλός (obellós) — Thessalian

Etymology

Possibly an alteration of βέλος (bélos, “missile”), but the initial vocal cannot be accounted for. According to Beekes and Furnée, the word is clearly Pre-Greek.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.be.lós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /o.beˈlos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /o.βeˈlos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /o.veˈlos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /o.veˈlos/

Noun

ὀβελός • (obelós) m (genitive ὀβελοῦ); second declension

a spit, rod
Synonym: βουπόρος (boupóros)
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.41
1. (ὀβελὸς λίθινος) a pointed square pillar, obelisk
a horizontal line
- Lucianus, Essays in Portraiture Defended 24

Usage notes

The horizontal line was used as a critical mark to point out that a passage was spurious, but with one point below and one above (÷) (ὀβελὸς περιστιγμένος (obelòs peristigménos)) it denoted superfluous passages, especially in philosophical writings.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ὀβελός; τοῦ ὀβελοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὀβελός ho obelós	τὼ ὀβελώ tṑ obelṓ	οἱ ὀβελοί hoi obeloí
Genitive	τοῦ ὀβελοῦ toû obeloû	τοῖν ὀβελοῖν toîn obeloîn	τῶν ὀβελῶν tôn obelôn
Dative	τῷ ὀβελῷ tōî obelōî	τοῖν ὀβελοῖν toîn obeloîn	τοῖς ὀβελοῖς toîs obeloîs
Accusative	τὸν ὀβελόν tòn obelón	τὼ ὀβελώ tṑ obelṓ	τοὺς ὀβελούς toùs obeloús
Vocative	ὀβελέ obelé	ὀβελώ obelṓ	ὀβελοί obeloí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of ὀβελός; ὀβελοῦ (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὀβελός obelós	ὀβελώ obelṓ	ὀβελοί obeloí
Genitive	ὀβελοῦ / ὀβελοῖο / ὀβελόο obeloû / obeloîo / obelóo	ὀβελοῖν / ὀβελοῖῐν obeloî(ĭ)n	ὀβελῶν obelôn
Dative	ὀβελῷ obelōî	ὀβελοῖν / ὀβελοῖῐν obeloî(ĭ)n	ὀβελοῖς / ὀβελοῖσῐ / ὀβελοῖσῐν obeloîs / obeloîsĭ(n)
Accusative	ὀβελόν obelón	ὀβελώ obelṓ	ὀβελούς obeloús
Vocative	ὀβελέ obelé	ὀβελώ obelṓ	ὀβελοί obeloí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

ὀβελία (obelía)
ὀβελίσκος (obelískos)

Descendants

→ English: obelus
→ Italian: obelo
→ Late Latin: obelus
→ Translingual: Obelus

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὀβελός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1042-3

“ὀβελός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ὀβελός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ὀβελός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ὀβελός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ὀβελός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- skewer idem, page 780.
- spit idem, page 802.
ὀβελός, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὀβελός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1042-3

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