βόθρος

This word and the synonymous βόθυνος (bóthunos) have been connected with Latin fodiō (“to dig”), Lithuanian bedù (“sting, dig”) and Middle Welsh bedd (“canal”), assuming either a dissimilation of Proto-Indo-European *bʰodʰ- to Proto-Hellenic *bodʰ-, which would explain the discrepancy between Greek β- and Latin f-, or a direct influence of βαθύς (bathús, “deep, profound”). However, Beekes prefers a derivation from Pre-Greek, citing both the impossibility of a connection with a Proto-Indo-European root and the meaning itself of this word.

βόθρος • (bóthros) m (genitive βόθρου); second declension

1. hole, trench or pit dug in the ground

   Synonym: βόθυνος (bóthunos)

2. (in general) hole, hollow, cavity

• Greek: βόθρος (vóthros)
• taxonomic name: → Bothrus, ⇒ †Bothriolepis
• ⇒ English: bothrenchyma
• → Italian: botro (possibly through Latin)

• “βόθρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “βόθρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “βόθρος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• βόθρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βόθρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• βόθρος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “βόθρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 224

Semantically similar to Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰh₂- (“to pierce, to dig”), however, the expected outcome of this root in Greek would be **πόθρος (**póthros) (based on Grassmann's law). Pre-Greek origin or influence from Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús, “vertically distant (high/deep)”) are possible alternatives.

βόθρος • (vóthros) m (plural βόθροι)

1. cesspool, cesspit, septic tank

• σηπτική δεξαμενή f (siptikí dexamení, “septic tank”)

• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “βόθρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 224

• βόθρος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el