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The corpus record

βάλᾰνος

balanos

acorn, fruit like an acorn, date

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

  • Athenian Constitution 7 · 4.3/10k
  • Works and Days 1 · 1.73/10k
  • Isaias 2 · 0.76/10k
  • Judices (cod. Al.) 1 · 0.68/10k
  • Genesis 2 · 0.67/10k
  • Jeremias 1 · 0.36/10k
  • Anabasis 2 · 0.36/10k
  • Odyssey 2 · 0.23/10k
  • Republic 2 · 0.23/10k
  • History 1 · 0.07/10k
  • Histories 1 · 0.05/10k

What it meant

1. βάλανος · balanos — Beekes

βάλανος [f.] ‘acorn, fruit like an acorn, date’, and objects like an acorn, e.g. ‘stopper’; also name of a fish (Od.). 41Ὲ *g”lh,- ‘acorn’> *DER βαλάνιον ‘acorn-drink’ (Nicoch.), ‘suppository’ (medic.), Badavic ‘stopper’ (Hp., pap.), βαλανῖτις ‘kind of chestnut’ (Plin.). βαλανωτός ‘fastened with a 8B.’ (Parm.), βαλανώδης, βαλάνινος ‘made of dates’ (Thphr.), βαλανηρός ‘like a 8.’ (Thphr.). Verbs: 1. Badavitw ‘to … — [Beekes, s.v. βάλανος, p. 242]

2. βάλανος · balanos — Chantraine

βάλανος : f. «gland » (Hom., ion.-att., etc.) ; s’est dit de divers autres fruits, notamment de la datte (Hdt., X.); d'arbres porteurs de glands (Thphr., Plb.); en outre de ce qui présente la forme du gland, glans penis (Arist.), cheville qui cale un verrou (ion.-att.); en médecine suppositoire et aussi pessaire ; sorte de bulletin de vote (Arist.). Enfin βάλανος désigne un ou plusieurs animaux marins ainsi nommés … — [Chantraine, s.v. βάλανος, p. 174]

3. βάλανος · balanos — Frisk

βάλανος f. “Eichel, eichelförmige Frucht, Dattel’, übertr. von verschiedenen eichelförmigen Gegenständen, z.B. “VerschlußZapfen’, auch Fischname (seit Od.). — Zahlreiche Ableitungen, die sich z.T. an die technischen Sonderbedeutungen von βάλανος anlehnen. Substantiva: BaAdvıov “Eicheltrank’ (Nikoch.), ‘Stuhlzäpfchen’ (Mediz.), Balavis “Pflock, Pfropfen’ (Hp., Pap.), βαλανέτης (λίϑος) “eichelförmiger Stein’ (Plin.), … — [Frisk, s.v. βάλανος, p. 243]

4. βάλᾰνος · balanos — LSJ

acorn, any similar fruit, date, bān, Balanites aegyptiaca

acorn, Od. 10.242, 13.409, Arist. HA 603b31, Thphr. HP 3.8.3: any similar fruit, date, Hdt. 1.193, X. An. 2.3.15, Arr. Ind. 11.8; Διὸς β. v. Διοσβάλανος; β. μυρεψική bān, Balanites aegyptiaca, Dsc. 4.157, cf. Thphr. HP 4.2.1.

2 tree which bears βάλανοι

tree which bears βάλανοι, ib. 6, Plb. 34.8.1, LXX Ge. 35.8.

II

from similarity of shape,

1 barnacle

a sea shell-fish, barnacle, Arist. HA 535a24, 547b22, Xenocr. ap. Orib. 2.58.50.

2 glans penis

glans penis, Arist. HA 493a27, Ar. Lys. 413, Gal. 10.381.

3 air-vessel, bladder-wrack, Fucus vesiculosus

air-vessel of a seaweed, bladder-wrack, Fucus vesiculosus, Thphr. HP 4.6.9.

4 iron peg, bolt-pin

iron peg, bolt-pin, Ar. V. 200, Th. 2.4, Aen.Tact. 18.1, al.

5 fastening for necklaces

fastening for necklaces, Ar. Lys. 410.

6 suppository

Medic., suppository, Hp. Epid. 1.4.1 [1.26.αʹ], Aret. CA 1.1.

b pledget, pessary

pledget, pessary, Hp. Mul. 1.84.

7 ballot-ball

ballot-ball, Arist. Ath. 63.2. (Lat. glans, Slav. želądῐ, Lith. gìlē.)

In the wild

6 of 22 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. βάλᾰνος (scan p. 242; entry #1026).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. βάλᾰνος (scan p. 174; entry #1161).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. βάλᾰνος (scan p. 243; entry #963).

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