Classics 22: Etymology

Lesson 6

NUMERALS

There are many kinds of numbers. In Greek, the main groups of numbers we will learn are 'cardinal' numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, ...) and 'ordinal' numbers (first, second, third, ...). Other sorts of numbers include fractions, unities (e.g. 'half,' 'third,' 'threesome,' ' foursome'), and multiplicatives (e.g. 'twofold,' 'tenfold').

Note: Chemistry uses Greek numbers extensively, both in names for compounds and in crystallography. In fact, many Greek numbers found nowhere else in English occur in chemical terms, but only a few are included in the exercises below.

While these are quite different from prefixes, they occur by far most frequently before roots.

Greek Root	Meaning	Examples in English (please fill in at least two examples)
arithm(e)-	number, to count
olig-	few
poly-	many
ochl-	crowd, mob
hemi-	half
hen-	one (among others)
mon-	one only, alone
hapl-	single
prot-	first
proter-	former, "firster" (an illogical comparative)
dy-	two
dipl-	double
di-	twice
dich-	in two
tri-	three
tetra-	four
penta-	five
hexa-	six
hepta-	seven
octo-/octa-	eight
ennea-	nine
deca-/deka-	ten
hendeca-	eleven
dodeca-	twelve
tris-kai-deka-	thirteen
icosa-	twenty
hecaton-/hect-	hundred
kil-	thousand
myria-	ten thousand, countless

Exercises:

Why are the 'cardinal' and 'ordinal' numbers so called?
Hints for filling in the right-hand column above:

Have fun: try to find out-of-the-way derivatives.
Feel free to use words in the exercises below!
-ad, -arch(y), -gon, -hedr-, and -meter are often combined with numbers.

-ad creates 'unities' such as a 'dyad,' which two things considered as one, like 'couple' or 'pair'
-archy is mostly used for systems of government: it is the root -arch 'to rule' + -y (abstract noun ending)
-gon is used for shapes: -gon means 'knee' or 'angle'
-hedr is also used for shapes, but means 'seat' (a shape is held to 'sit' on something or other, I guess)
-meter means 'measure' or 'measurer'

Look up and differentiate between the following:

monotheism
polytheism
henotheist
hylozoism
atheism
anthropotheism
autotheism
bitheism
ditheism
dyotheism
tritheism
tetratheism
pantheism
cosmotheism
panentheism
psychotheism
zootheism

Why is there no Greek word for "zero"? Look up the etymologies of the following words:

zero
cipher
algebra
average
algol
algorithm

Why do we have "Arabic numerals"?
Does Arabic currently use "Arabic numerals"?

Identify the etymological elements of hecatomb, polyp, and ink. What is the phenomenon those words share called? Can you think of further examples of it?

Investigate the etymologies of the following:

diatom	migraine	monolith
pentathlon	decathlete	octagon
diphycercal	protocol	triglyph
decade	heptahedron	myriapod
pentecost	tesseract	kilogram
hyphen	diatessaron	chiliad
hendiadys	trapeze	deuterium
triskaidekaphobia	adelphic	hectare
hentriacontane	unnilpentium	icosasphere
heneicosane	dean	deuteranopia
triakisoctahedrom	epitrite	hapax
trichotomy	hemiola	dilemma
tetra	tetrapla	proterozoic
penteconter	trireme	protozoic
eicosapentaenoic	docosahexaenoic	alpha-linolenic

What's in a name? Find the meaning of the following and say how it developed (these have nothing to do with numbers):

1. huguenot	8. lesbian
3. vulcanize	10. lynch
4. magnet	11. sandwich
5. maudlin	12. gerrymander
6. meander	13. masochist
7. solon	14. draconian

What's the difference between a perissodactylous animal and an artiodactylous animal?