- Κένταυροι
- ΚένταυροιGrammatical information: m. pl.Meaning: `name of mythical forest- and mountain inhabitants, half men, half horse; in Homer, where the horse-shape is not prominent, limited to the area of Pelion and Ossa (Il.).Derivatives: Κενταύρειος `belonging to the K.' (E., Luc.), -(ε)ιον name of a medical plant, `Centaurea salonitana' (Thphr., Dsc., pap.; after the herbalist Cheiron, therefore also called χειρωνιάς; Strömberg Pflanzennamen 100), also Κενταυρίη (Hp.) and -ρίς (Thphr.) `id.'; Κενταυρ-ικός `Centaur-like, wild, raw' (Ar.), -ίδης `descended from the Centaurs' (Luc.).Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]Etymology: Proper meaning unknown, so without etymology; prob. foreign word. The old wrong comparison with Skt. Gandharvá- m. name of a mythical figure (Kuhn KZ 1, 513ff.) is still defended by Carnoy Le Muséon 49, 99f. and Dumézil Le Problème des Centaures (Paris 1929) 253ff. (where also Lat. februum is connected). Often connected with κεντεῖν `sting' with diff. interpretations of the 2. element: to *auro- `horse' (Nazari Riv. fil. class. 32, 99); to αὔρα `air' (Mannhardt Antike Wald- und Feldkulte [1877] 39ff.); to the same word for `water' which was assumed in ἄναυρος `torrent' (s. v.; Kretschmer Glotta 10, 50ff., 211f.). Diff. Sturtevant ClassPhil. 21, 235ff. (rejected by Kretschmer Glotta 17, 249f.). - See Nilsson Gr. Rel. 1, 229ff. - The word is no doubt Pre-Greek; did it have -arʷ-os?Page in Frisk: 1,819-820
Greek-English etymological dictionary (Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά ετυμολογική λεξικό). Robert S.P.. 2010.