βαρδῆν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from a Paleo-Balkan language, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bring”), possibly akin to Latin forda (“pregnant (cow)”) and Albanian mbars (“to impregnate”).

Verb

βαρδῆν • (bardên) (Ambracian)

1. to coerce, rape women

   Synonym: βιάζομαι (biázomai)

   • 5th century C.E., Hesychius of Alexandria, Γλώσσαι, Β:

     βαρδῆν· τὸ βιάζεσθαι γυναῖκας. Ἀμπρακιῶται

     bardên; tò biázesthai gunaîkas. Amprakiôtai

     bardên: to coerce women. [among] Ambracians

Related terms

• βαρδίσαγνος (bardísagnos)

 

Further reading

• “βαρδῆν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βαρδῆν”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 201