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 • (zákoros) 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 zákoros	τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zakórō	οἱ, αἱ ζᾰ́κοροι hoi, hai zákoroi
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ζᾰκόρου toû, tês zakórou	τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zakóroin	τῶν ζᾰκόρων tôn zakórōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ζᾰκόρῳ tôi, têi zakórōi	τοῖν ζᾰκόροιν toîn zakóroin	τοῖς, ταῖς ζᾰκόροις toîs, taîs zakórois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ζᾰ́κορον tòn, tḕn zákoron	τὼ ζᾰκόρω tṑ zakórō	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ζᾰκόρους toùs, tā̀s zakórous
Vocative	ζᾰ́κορε zákore	ζᾰκόρω zakórō	ζᾰ́κοροι zákoroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἀρχῐζᾰ́κορος (arkhizákoros)
ζᾰκορεύω (zakoreúō)
ὑποζᾰ́κορος (hupozákoros)

“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–