ταῦρος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *táuros, from Proto-Indo-European *táwros;[1] cognates include Latin taurus, Lithuanian taũras, Old English stēor (English steer), and Albanian ter. The family of Semitic words represented by Proto-Semitic *ṯawr- bear a striking resemblance: compare Aramaic תּוֹר (tor), Arabic ثَوْر (ṯawr). An etymological link is considered possible; either the PIE root was borrowed from the Semitic one, or the opposite, or both were borrowed from a third common source.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

ταῦρος • (taûrosm (genitive ταύρου); second declension

  1. bull
  2. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) ox, chiefly as a sacrificial animal[2]
    • c. 80–90 CE, Gospel of Matthew, 22:4; Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th edition, 2012:
      οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα
      hoi taûroí mou kaì tà sitistà tethuména kaì pánta hétoima
      my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready (NRSV)

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: ταύρος (távros)
  • Dutch: tauros

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ταῦρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1455-1456
  2. ^ Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Further reading