[B-Greek] Root for Zodiakos
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Mar 25 11:52:26 EST 2004
At 10:52 AM -0500 3/25/04, Ron Snider wrote:
>I read the following and would like to know if this conclusion is correct.
>
>The word zodiac comes from the Greek zodiakos meaning a circle. It
>comes from the primitive root zoad, meaning a path or way or going by
>steps. In this connection, it is used to denote the way along which the
>sun appears to move through the stars in the course of the 12 months.
No, it comes from ZWiDION "figure", diminutive of ZWiON, "animal" + the
adjectival formative -AK-OS/H/ON, the adjective ZWiDIAKOS originally or
sometimes used with the noun KUKLOS, later becoming in effect a substantive
hO ZWiDIAKOS.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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