# χοῖρος
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Hellenic *kʰóřřos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰóryos (“pig”) (whence Albanian derr (“id”)), from *ǵʰer- (“to be excited, bristly”) +‎ *-yos (owing to the bristliness of wild pigs), whence *ǵʰḗr (“hedgehog”). But in view of the limited distribution, Beekes suspects a Pre-Greek substrate origin for the Greek and Albanian terms.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kʰôi̯.ros/ → /ˈçy.ros/ → /ˈçi.ros/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /kʰôi̯.ros/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈkʰy.ros/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈçy.ros/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈçy.ros/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈçi.ros/

### Noun

χοῖρος • (khoîros) m (genitive χοίρου); second declension
* a pig, especially a young one.
** 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, The Archarnians 521:Κεἴ που σίκυον ἴδοιεν ἢ λαγῴδιον ἢ χοιρίδιον ἢ σκόροδον ἢ χόνδρους ἅλας, ταῦτ’ ἦν “Μεγαρικὰ” κἀπέπρατ’ αὐθημερόν.Keí pou síkuon ídoien ḕ lagṓidion ḕ khoirídion ḕ skórodon ḕ khóndrous hálas, taût’ ên “Megarikà” kapéprat’ authēmerón.And if they see a cucumber or a young hare or a piglet or a clove of garlic or a granule of salt, They would shout "Megarian!" and take it all away.
* (generally) swine
* (slang, vulgar) female genitalia, especially those belonging to a young woman
** 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, The Archarnians 782–783:Νῦν γε χοῖρος φαίνεται. ἀτὰρ ἐκτραφείς γε κύσθος ἔσται.Nûn ge khoîros phaínetai. atàr ektrapheís ge kústhos éstai.Now it looks like a pussy. But once it's been reared, it'll be a cunt.
* a fish of the Nile

#### Usage notes

* For the semantic shift of “pig” to “female genitalia”, compare the same Latin use of porcus.

#### Synonyms

* (swine): ὗς (hûs), σῦς (sûs)

#### Derived terms

* χοίρειος (khoíreios)
* χοιρίδιον (khoirídion)
* χοίρινος (khoírinos)
* χοιρίον (khoiríon)
* Χοιροβοσκός (Khoiroboskós)
* χοιροκομεῖον (khoirokomeîon)
* χοιροπῐ́θηκος (khoiropĭ́thēkos)
* χοιροπώλης (khoiropṓlēs)
* χοιροτροφεῖον (khoirotropheîon)
* χοιροφορέω (khoirophoréō)

#### Descendants

* Greek: χοίρος (choíros)

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “χοῖρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1640–1641

### Further reading

* “χοῖρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “χοῖρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “χοῖρος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* χοῖρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* χοῖρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* G5519 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. hog idem, page 402.pig idem, page 612.swine idem, page 849.
* Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980) “χοῖρος”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, pages 1266–1267
* Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “χοῖρος”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pages 1107–1108
* Lamberterie, Charles de (1980) “Échange de gutturales en arménien”, in Annual of Armenian linguistics (in French), volume 1, pages 25–26