ὄσπριον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

  • ὄσπρεον (óspreon)

Etymology

Of unclear origin. Connections with σπεῖρον (speîron, wrapping cover) and σπείρω (speírō, to sow) have been suggested, but this is impossible because "ὀ" is not a prothetic vowel. The word is more likely a substrate borrowing,[1] perhaps from the same source as Old Armenian ոսպն (ospn, lentil).

Pronunciation

 

Noun

ὄσπρῐον • (ósprĭonn (genitive ὀσπρίου); second declension

  1. (botany) pulse, legume (of all kinds)

Inflection

Derived terms

  • ὀσπριοδόχος (ospriodókhos)
  • ὀσπριοθήκη (ospriothḗkē)
  • ὀσπριοπώλης (ospriopṓlēs)
  • ὀσπριοφαγέω (ospriophagéō)
  • ὀσπριώδης (ospriṓdēs)

Descendants

  • Greek: όσπριο (ósprio)

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὄσπριον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1118

Further reading