LOGOI

The corpus record

σκαιός

skaios

left, western

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

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 26 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. σκαιός · skaios — Beekes

σκαιός 1 [adj.] ‘left, western’ (especially epic poet., rarely attested in this meaning since Il.), ‘unfavorable, left-handed, inapt’ (IA). 4 IE *skeh,-i-uo-> *DER oxat-oupyéw ‘to do wrong’ (Ar.), σκαιό-της [f.] ‘improper behavior, inapt’ (IA), -σύνα [f.] ‘id’ (S. [lyr.]). *ETYM Formally and semantically identical with Lat. scaevus ‘left, inauspicious’, on the basis of which we can reconstruct *skeh,iuo-. According … — [Beekes, s.v. σκαιός, p. 1390]

2. σκαιός · skaios — Beekes

σκαιός 2 ‘shady’. Ξοσκιά. oxaipw [v.] ‘to hop, jump, dance’ (epic II.), only pres. and ipf. <1? *sker- ‘jump’> VAR καρθμοί: κινήσεις ‘motion, dance, movement’ (H.). *COMP Also with ava-, dta-, ὑπο-, etc. *DER σκαρ-θμός [m.] ‘jump’ (Hell. epic), also in compounds, e.g. ἐύ-, πολύ-σκαρθμος ‘with fair, many jumps’ (I1.); σκάρος [n.] ‘id’ (EM), whence ἀ-σκαρές: ἀκίνητον ‘unmoved, motionless’ (H.), σκαρία’ παιδιά … — [Beekes, s.v. σκαιός, p. 1390]

3. σκαιός · skaios — Chantraine

σκαιός : «ἃ gauche, du côté gauche », σκαιῇ [χειρί] (IL 1,501; 16,734; 21,490), aussi pour désigner l'Ouest (Od. 3,295, etc.), dans l'Iliade pour les Portes Scées, c.-à-d. de l'Ouest ; au sens de «gauche » une fois chez Thgn., Æsch., PL et à Delphes, 516 636,22 ; la gauche étant le «mauvais côté », le mot a pris en ion.-att. le sens de «malheureux, mal inspiré, gauche, maladroit, qui ne convient pas», cf. … — [Chantraine, s.v. σκαιός, p. 1029]

4. σκαιός · skaios — Frisk

1. σκαιός “link, westlich’ (vereinzelt [vorw. ep. poet.] seit Il.), “ungünstig, linkisch, ungeschickt’ (ion. att.; Chantraine Mvr;- uns χάριν 1,61f.). Davon σκαι-ουργέω "unrecht handeln’ (Ar.), σκαιό-της f. "unschickliches Betragen, Ungeschick’ (ion. att.), -σύνα f. “ds. (5. in lyr.; Wyss -σύνη 40). — Altes Wort, mit lat. scaevus “Iink’ identisch, σκαιότης = scaevitäs (voneinander unabhängig gebildet; anders Porzig … — [Frisk, s.v. σκαιός, p. 1686]

5. σκαι-ός · skai-os — LSJ

left, on the left hand, with the left hand

left, on the left hand, poet. for ἀριστερός (used by Prose writers in metaph. sense, and once by Pl. in literal sense, Phdr. 266a; also in Dor. Prose, ἐν σκαιάν,= ἐς ἀριστεράν, SIG 636.22 (Delph., ii B.C.; σκαγαν lapis)); τὸ σ. ὄμμα παραβαλών A. Fr. 308 (cf. Ath. 7.303c); in Hom. always in dat. σκαιῇ (sc. χειρί), with the left hand, Il. 1.501, al.; χειρὶ σ. Hes. Th. 179:—hence,

II western, westward, West, on the left, west

western, westward (for the Greek diviner always turned his face northward, and so had the West on his left): hence Σκαιαὶ πύλαι the West-gate of Troy, Il. 3.145, al., cf. Hsch. (otherwise expld. by Sch. ad loc.); σ. ῥίον either, on the left, or west headland, Od. 3.295; σ. λιμήν Orac. ap. D.S. 8.21; πόρος D.P. 161, 481, 541.

2 unlucky, ill-omened, mischievous, the worse, mischief

unlucky, ill-omened, mischievous (cf. δεξιός II), ἡ φιλοτιμίη κτῆμα σ. Hdt. 3.53; σεσιγαμένον οὐ σκαιότερον χρῆμʼ ἕκαστον a thing is none the worse for remaining unsaid, Pi. O. 9.104; σ. ἐκλύσων στόμα about to speak mischief, S. Aj. 1225.

III left-handed, awkward, clumsy, stupid

metaph. of persons, left-handed, awkward, clumsy, stupid, -ότατος καὶ ἀδικώτατος Hdt. 1.129; σ. ἰητροί Hp. Art. 42; σκαιοῖσι πολλοῖς εἷς σοφὸς διόλλυται S. Fr. 921, cf. 771; ὅπου δʼ Ἀπόλλων σ. ᾖ, τίνες σοφοί; E. El. 972, cf. Heracl. 258, HF 283; ὦ σκαιὲ κἀπαίδευτε Ar. V. 1183, cf. 1266; ἐπιλησμότατον καὶ -ότατον γερόντιον Id. Nu. 790; οὕτω σ. ὥστε μαθεῖν οὐ δύνασθαι Lys. 10.15, cf. Pl. Euthd. 295d; σ. καὶ βάρβαρος τὸν τρόπον D. 26.17; σ. καὶ ἀναίσθητος Id. 18.120; σ. ἢ ἀνήκοος Id. 19.312. Adv.,

2

of words, thoughts, or actions, -ότατον ἔπος Ar. Av. 174, cf. Arist. Rh.Al. 1430b7; σ. καινουργία OGI 569.18 (Arycanda, iv A.D.).—In these senses σκαιός is opp. to δεξιός (q.v.).

IV aslant, crooked

aslant, crooked, of serpents, Nic. Th. 266; cf. σκοιός. (Prob. σκαιϝός, cf. Lat. scaevus.)

In the wild

6 of 41 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. σκαιός (scan p. 1390; entry #5547). Root candidates: *sker-.
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. σκαιός (scan p. 1029; entry #7280).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. σκαιός (scan p. 1686; entry #5162).

Downloads

Word record (JSON)·Concordance (CSV)·Frequencies (CSV)·Cite (BibTeX)

CC BY 4.0 with receipt attribution — every file carries its license line. What is exportable

Ask the librarian

Ask about σκαιός →