LOGOI

The corpus record

χαίτη

chaite · ἡ

loose, flowing hair

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

Where it lives

  • On the Art of Horsemanship 5 · 7.2/10k
  • Electra 3 · 3.97/10k
  • Iphigenia in Tauris 3 · 3.62/10k
  • Phoenissae 3 · 3.11/10k
  • Libation Bearers 1 · 1.86/10k
  • Trojan Women 1 · 1.41/10k
  • Ajax 1 · 1.27/10k
  • Iliad 14 · 1.26/10k
  • Ion 1 · 1.09/10k
  • Odyssey 3 · 0.35/10k
  • Discourses 2 · 0.27/10k

What it meant — LSJ

loose, flowing hair, back hair

loose, flowing hair, ζανθὴν ἀπεκείρατο χαίτην Il. 23.141; τίλλοντό τε χαίτας Od. 10.567, cf. S. Aj. 634 (lyr.): χαίταν ἐλαίᾳ . . στεφανωσάμενον B. 10.28; pl., of a single person, χαίτας πεξαμένη Il. 14.175, cf. 10.15, Pi. N. 1.14, B. 16.105, etc.; χαίτᾰς (Dor. acc.) ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς Tyrt. 1.39 Diehl; used esp. of back hair, acc.to Ruf. Onom. 14.

2 mane

of a horseʼs mane, θαλερὴ δʼ ἐμιαίνετο χαίτη Il. 17.439, cf. 19.405; ἀμφὶ δὲ χαῖται ὤμοις ἀΐσσονται 6.509, cf. X. Eq. 5.5, 7.1, Plu. Pel. 22.

3 mane

after Hom., of a lionʼs mane, E. Ph. 1121; ὅσα χαίτην ἔχει, ὥσπερ λέων, opp. ὅσα λοφιὰν ἔχει, ὥσπερ ἵππος, Arist. HA 498b28, cf. PA 658a31: but metaph., φρίξας λοφιᾶς λασιαύχενα χαίταν, of Aeschylus, Ar. Ra. 822 (hex.).

b

ὀξυβελεῖς χ., of a hedgehogʼs spines, Emp. 83.2.

4 crest

crest of a helmet, Plu. Alex. 16.

5 foliage

metaph. of trees, foliage, Call. Del. 81: pl., Theoc. 6.16, Anacreont. 17/18.12; also βύβλος . . ἐπʼ ἄκρῳ χαίτην ἔχουσα Str. 17.1.15. (Ambraciot word acc. to AB 1095: not in Prose of human hair; cf. Avest. gaēsa- ‘curly hair’.)

In the wild

6 of 37 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. χαίτη (scan pp. 1658-1659; entry #6498).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. χαίτη (scan p. 1261; entry #8634).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. χαίτη (scan p. 2037; entry #6039).

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