πυρ-ίτης ἄρτος

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `(grain of) wheat' (Il.).

Other forms: mostly pl. πῡροί (Schwyzer-Debr. 43, Chantraine Gramm. hom. 2, 30), Dor. (Cos, Thera, Syracuse a.o.) σπυρός.

Compounds: Compp., e.g. πυρο-φόρος `wheat-bearing' (Il.), διόσ-πυρον n. `the cherry-like fruit of Celtis australis' (Thphr.), - πυρος m. = λιθόσπερμον (Dsc.; Strömberg Pfl.namen 128 a. 138); on the gender cf. βούτυρον, - ος (s.v.).

Derivatives: Dimin. πυρίδια pl. n. (Ar., pap.); the adj. πύρ-ινος (E., X., hell.), - ικός (pap.), - ώδης (Str.), - άμινος (Hes. fr. 117 a.o.; after κυάμ-, σησάμ-ινος; Forbes Mnem. 4: 11, 157) `of wheat', - αμίς, - αμοῦς (s. v.); the subst. πυρ-ίτης ἄρτος `wheat-bread' (Aët.), αὑτο-πυρίτης (Phryn. Com., Hp.) = αὑτό-πυρος a. o. (Redard 90). -- Also πυρήν, - ῆνος m. `pip, stone of fruit' (Ion., Arist., hell.; Solmsen Wortforsch. 125f.) with ἀ-πύρην-ος `pitless' (Ar. Fr. 118, Thphr. etc.) a.o.; πυρην-ίς (Tanagra III^a; wr. πουρεινις), - ιον (Thphr.), - ίδιον (Delos III^a, pap.) `kernel, knag, knob'; also πυρην-άδες f. pl. n. of guild in Ephesos (inscr.); - ώδης `pit-like' (Thphr.).

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [850] * puH-ro- ( peh₁u-, puh₁-?) `corn, wheat'

Etymology: Old designation of wheat, which is also retained in Balto-Slav., e.g. Lith. pūraĩ pl. `winter corn', sg. pũras m. `single corn of winter corn', SCr. pȉr m. `spelt', Russ.-CSl. pyro ' ὄλυρα, κέγχρος', Russ. pyréj `dog-grass, Triticum repens'; to this from Germ. OE fyrs `dog-grass' (deviating stem; cf. Specht Ursprung 69). Skt. pūraḥ m. `cake' remains far (Mayrhofer KEWA s.v. w. lit.). On the facts Schrader-Nehring Reallex. 2, 647. -- Anlaut. σ- in σπυρός perh. from σῖτος or from σπόρος, σπέρμα (Fraenkel Phil. 97, 169 f., IF 59, 304 f.). Further forms w. lit. in Fraenkel and Vasmer s.vv.; also WP. 2, 83 and Pok. 850. -- Orig. old `Wanderwort' (Schwyzer 58 n. 3 with Güntert a.o.)? After Nieminen KZ 74, 170f. as "what is beaten, what is threshed" to IE * pēu-, pǝu- (Pok. 827) `beat, hew cutting' in Lith. piáuti `cut, mow', Lat. paviō `beat'; worth considering.

Page in Frisk: 2,631