δοῦλος

See also: δούλος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

Related to Mycenaean Greek 𐀈𐀁𐀫 (do-e-ro /⁠dohelos⁠/),[1] possibly from Canaanite *dōʾēlu “servant, attendant” (compare Late Babylonian 𒁕𒀝𒂵𒇻 (daggālu, subject, one who waits on another, does their bidding), Aramaic דַּיָּילָא (dayyālā), Hebrew דייל (dayyal, flight attendant, store clerk)).[2]

According to Parpola,[3] the word δοῦλος is related to the ethnonym Dahae (found as Δάοι, Δάαι, Δαι or Δάσαι in Greek sources) and thus related to Sanskrit दस्यु (dasyu, bandit, brigand) and Sanskrit दास (dāsa) which originally meant 'demon' and later also 'slave' or 'fiend'.

Pronunciation

 

Adjective

δοῦλος • (doûlos) m (feminine δούλη, neuter δοῦλον); first/second declension (Attic, Ionic)

  1. slavish, servile, subject

Inflection

Noun

δοῦλος • (doûlos) m (genitive δούλου); second declension (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Koine)

  1. born slave or bondman
    Synonym: ἀτμήν (atmḗn)
    • 2022 May 18, Seumas Macdonald, chapter 5, in Linguae Graecae Per Se Illustrata:
      διὰ τί οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ Ῥωμαϊκὸς δοῦλός ἐστιν; ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ τοῦ Τροχίλου ἦν δοῦλος, νῦν δὲ αὐτός ἐστι δοῦλος.
      dià tí hoûtos ho anḕr ho Rhōmaïkòs doûlós estin? ho gàr patḕr toû Trokhílou ên doûlos, nûn dè autós esti doûlos.
      Why is this Roman man a slave? The father of Trokhilos had been a slave, so now he himself is a slave.

Inflection

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: δούλος (doúlos)

References

  1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 249-250
  2. Rosół, Rafał (2013) Frühe Semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen (in German), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, page 18
  3. Parpola, Asko (1988) “The Coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the Cultural and Ethnic identity of the Dāsas”, in Studia Orientalia, volume 64, Helsinki, pages 195–202

Further reading

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