hodós

hodós ὁδός agr. 'Weg'; vgl. oîmos

From Proto-Hellenic *hodós, possibly from a Proto-Indo-European *sodós (“course”), which is traditionally derived from *sed- (“to sit”) and directly cognate with Proto-Slavic *xodъ (“motion; passage”), with more distant cognates including Sanskrit साद (sādá, “a sitting, riding, motion”); however, this has been disputed.This would make it one of the oldest -ός (-ós) deverbals in Greek.

For the putative semantic development, compare English set out from the same root, as well as road from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“ride, journey”).

Pronunciation IPA^(key): /ho.dós/ → /oˈðos/ → /oˈðos/

Noun

ὁδός • (hodós) f (genitive ὁδοῦ); second declension

1. road; path; way

   Synonym: οὔθα (oútha)

2. travelling; journeying
3. journey; trip; expedition
4. the way, means, or manner to some end
5. manner of doing (something)
6. method
7. system
8. (Koine) the Way (Christianity)

Usage notes

• ὁδός (hodós) is distinct from ὀδός (odós, “threshold”) in Attic, though both occur as οὐδός (oudós) in Homer.