LOGOI

The corpus record

ῥάχις

rachis · ἡ

the lower part of the back, the chine

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 3 · 4.32/10k
  • Rhesus 2 · 3.72/10k
  • Eumenides 1 · 1.91/10k
  • Timaeus 2 · 0.85/10k
  • Job 1 · 0.75/10k
  • Regnorum I 1 · 0.54/10k
  • Histories 2 · 0.11/10k
  • Iliad 1 · 0.09/10k

What it meant — LSJ

the lower part of the back, the chine

the lower part of the back, the chine, συὸς ῥ. Il. 9.208.

2 spine, backbone

spine or backbone, σύγκειται ἡ ῥ. ἐκ σφονδύλων, τείνει δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς μέχρι πρὸς τὰ ἰσχία Arist. HA 516a11, cf. PA 654b12, al.; ὑπὸ ῥάχιν παγέντες impaled, A. Eu. 190, cf. S. Fr. 20, E. Cyc. 643; μυελὸς κοίλης ῥάχεως Archel. ap. Antig. Mir. 89, cf. Pl. Ti. 77d, 91a.

II anything ridged like the backbone

anything ridged like the backbone:

1 ridge, ridge

ridge of a hill or mountain, Hdt. 3.54, 7.216, IG 42(1).71.14 (Epid., iii B.C.), Plb. 3.101.2, D.H. 5.44, Str. 3.2.3 (pl.); ἂν ῥάχιν along the ridge, GDI 5075.69 (Crete, i B.C.); so Archil. 21 likened Thasos to an ὄνου ῥάχις.

2 bridge

ῥ. ῥινός bridge of the nose, Poll. 2.79, Ruf. Onom. 35.

3 mid-rib

ῥ. φύλλου mid-rib of a leaf, Thphr. HP 3.7.5, al.

4 the sharp projection on the middle of the shoulder-blade

the sharp projection on the middle of the shoulder-blade, Gal. UP 13.10, Ruf. Onom. 71.

5 outer edge

outer edge of the arm of the polypus, Arist. HA 524a7.

6 trunk

trunk, of Dagon, LXX 1 Ki. 5.4.

In the wild

6 of 13 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. ῥάχις (scan pp. 1328-1329; entry #5296). Root candidates: *urdg’-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. ῥάχις (scan pp. 988-989; entry #6943).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. ῥάχις (scan p. 1618; entry #4956). Root candidates: *urägh-.

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