The corpus record

ψάμαθος

psamathos · ἡ

sand of the sea-shore

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

Where it lives

Iphigenia in Aulis 2 · 2.24/10k
Hecuba 1 · 1.4/10k
Ajax 1 · 1.27/10k
Iphigenia in Tauris 1 · 1.21/10k
Odyssey 10 · 1.15/10k
Iliad 10 · 0.9/10k
Rhetoric 1 · 0.23/10k

What it meant — LSJ

sand of the sea-shore, river-sand

sand of the sea-shore, ἔρειπε δὲ τεῖχος Ἀχαιῶν . . , ὡς ὅτε τις ψάμαθον πάϊς ἄγχι θαλάσσης . . συνέχευε Il. 15.362; ψαμάθῳ εἰλυμένα πολλῇ Od. 14.136; ἀμφὶ χλωρὰν ψ. S. Aj. 1064; παρακτία ψ. E. IA 165 (lyr.), cf. 1054 (lyr.); παρὰ ψ. καὶ θῖνʼ ἁλός Ar. V. 1520 (lyr.): freq. in pl., νῆα . . ἐπʼ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν ὑψοῦ ἐπὶ ψαμάθοις Il. 1.486; ἐπὶ ψαμάθοις ἁλίῃσι Od. 3.38, cf. 4.438; of river-sand, Il. 21.202, 319.

2 grains of sand

prov. of a countless multitude, ὅσα ψ. τε κόνις τε ib. 9.385: pl., grains of sand, φύλλοισιν ἐοικότες ἢ ψαμάθοισιν 2.800; ὁπόσαι ἐν θαλάσσᾳ καὶ ποταμοῖς ψάμαθοι κλονέονται Pi. P. 9.47. (Perh. formed by combining ψάμμος and ἄμαθος; similarly ἄμμος (ἅμμος) by combining ἄμαθος and ψάμμος; ἄμαθος is cogn. with Engl. sand.)

In the wild

ψάμαθός · psamathos Aristotle, Rhetoric 3
ψαμάθῳ · psamathōi Euripides, Hecuba (DIORISIS sentence 355)
ψάμαθον · psamathon Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1 (DIORISIS sentence 657)
ψάμαθον · psamathon Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1 (DIORISIS sentence 71)
ψαμάθων · psamathōn Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris (DIORISIS sentence 82)
ψαμάθοις · psamathois Iliad 1.486

6 of 26 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. ψάμαθος (scan p. 1711; entry #6637).
Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ψάμαθος (scan p. 1305; entry #8865).

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