ζάκορος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Hieratic professional term. Semantically related and formally comparable is νεωκόρος (neōkóros, “custodian of a temple”). Here ζα- may stand for δα-, as in ζάπεδον (zápedon) for δάπεδον (dápedon, “floor”). Then this word could be related to κορέω (koréō, “to sweep”) and thus meaning "cleaner of the house". However, this seems rather doubtful. According to Beekes, the word must in any case be Aeolic.

It is explainable as a Semitic borrowing, attested in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic זכורא / ܙܟܘܪܐ (zakkūrā, “soothsayer, necromancer”), Akkadian 𒊓𒆠𒊒 (sa-qi₂-ru /⁠zākiru, sāqiru⁠/, “one who invokes (names)”), which, also rendered דכורא (dakkūrā) to appear more genuinely Aramaic (Proto-Semitic *ḏ regularly gives Akkadian and Hebrew z but Aramaic d), is a reinterpretation rare in Akkadian itself after the cultically relevant root *ḏ-k-r (“recollection, commemoration”), from Akkadian 𒊓𒄭𒊒 (sa-ḫi-ru /⁠sāḫiru⁠/, “encircling, ensnaring; a kind of sorcerer; itinerant, tramp, peddler”), which relates to the Arabic س ح ر (s ḥ r) “bewitching”.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zdá.ko.ros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈza.ko.ros/

Noun

ζᾰ́κορος • (zắkoros) m or f (genitive ζᾰκόρου); second declension

attendant in a temple, more honorable than νεωκόρος (neōkóros)

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ, ἡ ζᾰ́κορος; τοῦ, τῆς ζᾰκόρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ ζᾰ́κορος ho, hē zắkoros	τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zăkórō	οἱ, αἱ ζᾰ́κοροι hoi, hai zắkoroi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ζᾰκόρου toû, tês zăkórou	τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zăkóroin	τῶν ζᾰκόρων tôn zăkórōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ζᾰκόρῳ tôi, têi zăkórōi	τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zăkóroin	τοῖς, ταῖς ζᾰκόροις toîs, taîs zăkórois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ζᾰ́κορον tòn, tḕn zắkoron	τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zăkórō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ζᾰκόρους toùs, tā̀s zăkórous
Vocative	ζᾰ́κορε zắkore	ζᾰκόρω zăkórō	ζᾰ́κοροι zắkoroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἀρχῐζᾰ́κορος (arkhĭzắkoros)
ζᾰκορεύω (zăkoreúō)
ὑποζᾰ́κορος (hupozắkoros)

“ζάκορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ζάκορος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ζάκορος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
Schwally, Friedrich (1891) “Miscellen”, in Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (in German), volume 11, pages 178–180
“zkwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–