# πέλεκυς
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

Uncertain: Compare Sanskrit परशु (paraśú, “axe”) and Ossetian фӕрӕт (færæt, “axe”), pointing to a late, dialectal Proto-Indo-European word like *peleḱu- which does not appear to be a native formation. This etymon is often considered a Wanderwort, with similarity to Akkadian 𒁄 (pilakku, pilaqqu, “wooden handle; spindle, harp”), itself from Sumerian 𒁄 (balag, “wooden handle; spindle, harp; possibly a split piece of wood or wooden wedge”); compare Arabic فَلَقَ (falaqa, “to split apart”) and πέλεκκον (pélekkon, “axe handle”). This has led some to suggest that the Proto-Indo-European terms are ultimately borrowed through the Akkadian or another Semitic source. Furnée points to βέλεκκος (bélekkos, “kind of pulse”), suggesting a Pre-Greek origin.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pé.le.kys/ → /ˈpe.le.cys/ → /ˈpe.le.cis/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /pé.le.kys/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈpe.le.kys/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈpe.le.cys/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈpe.le.cys/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈpe.le.cis/

### Noun

πέλεκῠς • (pélekŭs) m (genitive πελέκεως); third declension
* two-edged axe for felling trees
* battle axe, executioner's axe

#### Derived terms

* ἑξαπέλεκυς (hexapélekus)
* πελεκάω (pelekáō)
* πελέκημα (pelékēma)
* πελέκησις (pelékēsis)
* πελεκητής (pelekētḗs)
* πελεκητός (pelekētós)
* πελεκητρίς (pelekētrís)
* πελεκήτωρ (pelekḗtōr)
* πελεκίζω (pelekízō)
* πελεκῑνοειδής (pelekīnoeidḗs)
* πελεκῖνος (pelekînos)
* πελέκιον (pelékion)
* πελεκισμός (pelekismós)
* πελεκοφόρος (pelekophóros)
* πελεκυνάριον (pelekunárion)
* σφυροπέλεκυς (sphuropélekus)

#### Descendants

* Greek: πέλεκυς (pélekys)

### Further reading

* “πέλεκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “πέλεκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* πέλεκυς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* 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

## Greek
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek πέλεκυς (pélekus), cognate with Sanskrit परशु (paraśú, “axe”), which would reflect Proto-Indo-European *peleḱús if reconstructed back to PIE. Beekes suggested a Pre-Greek origin. Compare also German Beil (“axe”) as well as Hungarian and Turkish balta, both meaning "axe."

### Noun

πέλεκυς • (pélekys) m (plural πελέκεις)
* battle axe, double-headed axe
    Synonyms: τσεκούρι n (tsekoúri), πελέκι n (peléki)
* a force that punishes severely
    Synonyms: ποινή f (poiní), απειλή f (apeilí), τιμωρία f (timoría)
    Βαρύς θα είναι ο πέλεκυς τού υπουργείου για τις κλινικές που δεν συμμορφώνονται με τον κανονισμό.Varýs tha eínai o pélekys toú ypourgeíou gia tis klinikés pou den symmorfónontai me ton kanonismó.The ministry's penalty will be severe for clinics that do not conform to the regulation.

#### Declension

there is an alternative genitive singular: πελέκεως (pelékeos)

#### Related terms

* χειροπέλεκυς m (cheiropélekys, “handaxe, handpick, chisel”)

### References

* ↑ J. P. Mallory, D. Q. Adams, The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European (2006, →ISBN): "We find cognates in Grk pélekus, Oss færæt, and Skt paraśú, and the proto-form is often compared with Semitic forms, e.g. Akkadian pilakku which some translate as 'axe' but others translate as 'spindle', which is semantically very distant."
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “πέλεκυς”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, pages 1166-1167

### Further reading

* Kaulins, Ancient Signs: The Alphabet and the Origins of Writing
* πέλεκυς on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{el}$