ἄλειφαρ

Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀩𐀞 (a-re-pa), from Proto-Hellenic *áleipʰar. By surface analysis, ἀλείφω (aleíphō, “to anoint, grease”) +‎ -ᾰρ (-ăr).

ἄλειφᾰρ • (áleiphăr) n (genitive ἀλείφατος); third declension

1. unguent, anointing oil, oil, fat
   • c. 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.170–171:

     ἐν δ' ἐτίθει μέλιτος καὶ ἀλείφατος ἀμφιφορῆας / πρὸς λέχεα κλίνων

     en d’ etíthei mélitos kaì aleíphatos amphiphorêas / pròs lékhea klínōn

     • 1924 translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D.

       And thereon he set two-handled jars of honey and oil, leaning them against the bier

   • c. 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 3.408
   • 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.87
   • 460 BCE – 430 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.94
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, On the Diseases of Women 1.74
2. pitch, resin
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 7.147

• →? Umbrian: 𐌀𐌛𐌄𐌐𐌄𐌔 (ařepes), 𐌀𐌛𐌉𐌐𐌄𐌔 (ařipes), 𐌀𐌛𐌄𐌐𐌄 (ařepe), 𐌀𐌛𐌉𐌐𐌄𐌓 (ařiper), 𐌀𐌛𐌐𐌄𐌔 (ařpes), 𐌀𐌛𐌄𐌐𐌄𐌓 (ařeper)
  • →? Latin: adeps (see there for further descendants)

• “ἄλειφαρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄλειφαρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄλειφαρ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἄλειφαρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄλειφαρ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἄλειφαρ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)