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σκῠτάλη

skutale

stick, club, spar, drum

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Where it lives

What it meant

1. σκὕτάλη · skhytalē — Beekes

σκὕτάλη [f.] ‘stick, club, spar, drum’ (Archil., Pi.), especially a staff used as a cypher to read dispatches, more generally also ‘(Spartan) dispatch’. Metaph. a snake (Nic. et al.), or a fish (Opp.), see Stromberg 1943: 36. VAR σκύταλον [n.] ‘stick, club’ (Pi, Hdt, Ar. X.). *DER Diminutive oxutdA-tov [n.] (Ar., Hell. and late), -ἰς [f.] ‘stick’ (Hdt., Hell. and late); further -ἰας [m.] a type of long cucumber … — [Beekes, s.v. σκὕτάλη, p. 1414]

2. σκυτάλη · skytalē — Chantraine

σκυτάλη : {. « bâton, massue, bois rond », etc. (Archil., Pi, Th, X., etc.)}, terme technique qui s'est spécialisé dans divers emplois particuliers ; le plus connu est celui de la scytale, ce bâton utilisé par les Spartiates pour y inscrire leurs messages secrets, d’où l'usage de ce mot pour une dépêche spartiate (Th., X., etc.), employé comme image chez Pi. Ο, 6,91 ; par métaphore nom d'un serpent au corps rond … — [Chantraine, s.v. σκυτάλη, p. 1044]

3. σκυτάλη · skytalē — Frisk

σκυτάλη. Spitzname Σ'χυταλᾶς (Magn. am Sipylos); Robert Noms indigönes 251. — [Frisk, s.v. σκυτάλη, p. 2306]

4. σκῠτάλη · skytalē — LSJ

staff, cudgel, club, club

staff, cudgel, club, D.S. 3.8; σ. ἀγριέλαιος, of Heracles’ club, AP 9.237 (Eryc.); cf. σκύταλον:—Special usages:

1 staff, baton, a Spartan dispatch, dispatch, message

at Sparta, staff or baton, used as a cypher for writing dispatches, a strip of leather being rolled slantwise round it, on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that when unrolled they were unintelligible: commanders abroad had a staff of like thickness, round which they rolled these strips, and so were able to read the dispatches:—hence σκυτάλη came to mean a Spartan dispatch, Th. 1.131, X. HG 3.3.8, Ar. Lys. 991, Plu. Lys. 19, Gell. 17.9.15; and, generally, dispatch, message, as Pi.

2 pole, staff

pole or staff, like those of a sedan-chair, LXX Ex. 30.4.

3 strickle for levelling grain

strickle for levelling grain piled up in a measure, σ. δικαία PTeb. 823.15, PAmh. 2.43.10 (both ii B.C.), cf. Poll. 4.170.

4 wooden tally, ticket

wooden tally or ticket on a money-bag, etc., Diosc.Hist. 4, D.S. 13.106.

5 strip, rod of metal, ivory

strip or rod of metal or ivory, κασσιτέρου Inscr.Délos 442 B 170 (ii B.C.); ἐλέφαντος ibid.; cf. Hld. 9.15.

6 scourge whip

scourge whip, Moer. p.346P.

7 handle, lever, handspike

handle or lever in a machine, Orib. 49.3.3; handspike for turning a wheel, Ph. Bel. 68.6, 85.2, Hero Bel. 86.12 (pl.).

II sucker

sucker from a stem, Gp. 9.11.4, al.

III cylinder, roller

cylinder or roller wherewith weights are moved, Arist. Mech. 852a16, cf. CPHerm. 95.16 (iii A.D.).

IV a serpent

a serpent, of uniform roundness and thickness, Nic. Th. 384, Sor. ap. Philum. Ven. 27.3 (for Plu. Crass. 32 v. Σκύλλα).

2 a fish

a fish of like shape, Opp. H. 1.184.

V finger-bone, phalanx

finger-bone, phalanx, Paul.Aeg. 6.43, Tz. H. 9.126.

In the wild

6 of 12 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. σκῠτάλη (scan p. 1414; entry #5637).
  • Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque Treated in Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque s.v. σκῠτάλη (scan p. 1044; entry #7407).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. σκῠτάλη (scan p. 2306; entry #7936).

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