# Blond



## Rainbowlight

Hello everyone,

I would like to know which is the word for "blond" in Greek. I would also like to know if a difference can be made between the word "blond" (a male with blond hair) and "blonde", meaning a female with blond hair.

I'm also curious about to know if the Greek word is also similar to others that, intriguingly, can be associated with blond hair, at least in the English language. I'm referring to words such as "blend" (meaning _to mix_) or even "blind" (not in the sense of visually impaired, but in the sense of _hidden_ or _concealed_, as dying human hair blond sometimes implies the "covering" of a previous, natural hair colour.)

Are there any synonyms, no matter how old-fashioned or maybe belonging to one of the many Greek dialects, of the word? Is there a known etymology of the word?

Are there Greek words that may seem unrelated to the original word but share an overly similar structure (maybe ones in which the initial letter is swapped by another but the rest of the word follows an identical pattern)?


Please forgive me for the overwhelming number of questions. : )

Thank you so, so much for your patience, kindness and help.


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## ioanell

Rainbowlight said:


> I would like to know which is the word for "blond" in Greek. I would also like to know if a difference can be made between the word "blond" (a male with blond hair) and "blonde", meaning a female with blond hair.


The word for blond and blonde is the adjective ξανθός [άνδρας] (a blond man), ξανθή or ξανθιά [γυναίκα] (a blonde woman) and ξανθό [παιδί, αγόρι, κορίτσι] (a blond child, a blond boy, a blond girl), in the three [masculine, feminine, neuter] grammatical genders respectively.



Rainbowlight said:


> Are there any synonyms, no matter how old-fashioned or maybe belonging to one of the many Greek dialects, of the word? Is there a known etymology of the word?


A synonym of the word, especially for describing a woman’s _natural_ blonde hair, is χρυσαφένια [μαλλιά] (golden hair). The etymology of the word (_ξανθός_ coming down from AG [Mycenaean _ka-sa-tό_]) is unexplained. Some suggestions formerly made were turned down as unprovable. It is believed to be Pre-Greek of Pelasgian origin.



Rainbowlight said:


> I'm curious as to know if sometimes a completely natural, non-dyed blond hair does also occur in your country.


Your stereotypes about the colour of the Greek hair seem to be correct, but, although not very frequent, there are several cases of people having natural, non-dyed blond hair. Relevant references for similar cases do already exist in AG literature, for instance ξανθή κόμη / χαίτη of Achilles *Il.1.197*, *23.141 *and ξανθή Ἀγαμήδη *Il.11.740* in Homer’s Iliad , ξανθαὶ τρίχες of Odysseus (Ulysses) *Od.13.399*,*431* in Homer’s Odyssey etc.


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## Rainbowlight

ioanell said:


> The word for blond and blonde is the adjective ξανθός [άνδρας] (a blond man), ξανθή or ξανθιά [γυναίκα] (a blonde woman) and ξανθό [παιδί, αγόρι, κορίτσι] (a blond child, a blond boy, a blond girl), in the three [masculine, feminine, neuter] grammatical genders respectively.
> 
> 
> A synonym of the word, especially for describing a woman’s _natural_ blonde hair, is χρυσαφένια [μαλλιά] (golden hair). The etymology of the word (_ξανθός_ coming down from AG [Mycenaean _ka-sa-tό_]) is unexplained. Some suggestions formerly made were turned down as unprovable. It is believed to be Pre-Greek of Pelasgian origin.
> 
> 
> Your stereotypes about the colour of the Greek hair seem to be correct, but, although not very frequent, there are several cases of people having natural, non-dyed blond hair. Relevant references for similar cases do already exist in AG literature, for instance ξανθή κόμη / χαίτη of Achilles *Il.1.197*, *23.141 *and ξανθή Ἀγαμήδη *Il.11.740* in Homer’s Iliad , ξανθαὶ τρίχες of Odysseus (Ulysses) *Od.13.399*,*431* in Homer’s Odyssey etc.


Thank you so much for your answer!

There are two questions that have been left unanswered, though.

Could it be possible to know if there are similar-sounding words to _ξανθός_ in Greek that, as it happens in the English language, might refer to the act of _covering_ and _concealing_ (_to blind_, in the case of English). After all, given the popularity of hair dyes in many cultures, a case might be made for understanding "blond" as having its origins in "a _blinding_ or a _covering_ of the natural colour of the hair").

As for the second question, I know this may sound a bit odd, but I would like to know if there are similar-sounding words to _ξανθός_ in Greek. Maybe the first letter of the word is different, maybe the _θ _character has been changed for another letter, but the word should bear a similarity to_ ξανθός._

Thank you _so, so_ much for your help and your very valuable and lengthy answer. : )

Rainbowlight


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## ioanell

Rainbowlight said:


> if there are similar-sounding words to _ξανθός_ in Greek that..might refer to the act of _covering_ and _concealing_


I can’t say I’m aware of such a secondary meaning in Greek, Ancient or Modern. It is a fact, however, that several women even in the Greek Antiquity and on, with the help of various techniques of the time, used to dye their hair for the purpose of becoming, in their opinion, more attractive.



Rainbowlight said:


> "blond" as having its origins in "a _blinding_ or a _covering_ of the natural colour of the hair"


I think such an understanding would have a basis only in case that “blond” was totally artificial and there wasn’t a real golden yellow colour of the human hair.



Rainbowlight said:


> I would like to know if there are similar-sounding words to _ξανθός_ in Greek. Maybe the first letter of the word is different, maybe the _θ _character has been changed for another letter, but the word should bear a similarity to_ ξανθός._


! Unfortunately, I'm not aware of such cases.


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## Rainbowlight

ioanell said:


> I can’t say I’m aware of such a secondary meaning in Greek, Ancient or Modern. It is a fact, however, that several women even in the Greek Antiquity and on, with the help of various techniques of the time, used to dye their hair for the purpose of becoming, in their opinion, more attractive.
> 
> 
> I think such an understanding would have a basis only in case that “blond” was totally artificial and there wasn’t a real golden yellow colour of the human hair.
> 
> 
> ! Unfortunately, I'm not aware of such cases.


Thank you very much, anyway! : )


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## διαφορετικός

Rainbowlight said:


> As for the second question, I know this may sound a bit odd, but I would like to know if there are similar-sounding words to _ξανθός_ in Greek. Maybe the first letter of the word is different, maybe the _θ _character has been changed for another letter, but the word should bear a similarity to_ ξανθός._


There's a city named "Ξάνθη", which confuses me sometimes:
Ξάνθη - Βικιπαίδεια
The syllable stress differs from ξανθή [γυναίκα].


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## Rainbowlight

διαφορετικός said:


> There's a city named "Ξάνθη", which confuses me sometimes:
> Ξάνθη - Βικιπαίδεια
> The syllable stress differs from ξανθή [γυναίκα].


Thank you very much. I find it strange that there doesn't seem to be a similar word to _ξανθός _in the Greek language or even a basic root from which the word was formed. In Spanish, there seems to be an agreement that both_ rubio_ (referring to blond hair or a blond man) or _rubia_ (a blond woman) both derive from Latin _rubeus_, which seems to link blond hair to red-coloured or reddish hair. I guess cultural perceptions of colour are the key to untangle this mystery. Given all the nuances of blond hair dye that are offered in a beauty salon, it seems to me that the frontiers between reddish, light brown and blond hair can sometimes be extremely vague and difficult to differentiate. 

I only hope to arrive someday to a satisfying conclusion when it comes to this subject! : )


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## ioanell

Rainbowlight said:


> I find it strange that there doesn't seem to be ...even a basic root from which the word was formed.


Major etymological dictionaries and scholar linguists can't give a PIE root of the word ξανθὸς, without excluding that the word might come from a Pre-Greek substratum. What more?



Rainbowlight said:


> I find it strange that there doesn't seem to be a similar word to _ξανθός _in the Greek language


Your query, as it was originally put, was understood that you were looking for words meaning “blond”, similar-sounding to or slightly differentiated from _ξανθός_ and my answer was that I wasn’t aware of such cases. I don't know if somebody else could provide such adjectives. I guess that by "similar" you don't mean "synonym", because I already gave you one.



Rainbowlight said:


> In Spanish, there seems to be an agreement that both_ rubio_ (referring to blond hair or a blond man) or _rubia_ (a blond woman) both derive from Latin _rubeus_, which seems to link blond hair to red-coloured or reddish hair.


When you came back you broadened the palette by referring to Latin _rubeus_, which seems to link blond hair to red-coloured or reddish hair. Note that “blond” comes [late 15th century] from the French blond, blonde, from medieval Latin blundus ‘yellow’, perhaps from Germanic. Is the blond [=yellow] hair linked to red-coloured or reddish hair? It is true that the frontiers between some colours can sometimes be extremely vague and difficult to differentiate, but are reddish, light brown and blond hair difficult to differentiate? If you were interested in other colours containing the (ancient Greek) word ξανθός (=yellow), I could have furnished you with the compound adjectives ξανθοκόκκινος, πυρρόξανθος (reddish-yellow) or χαλκόξανθος meaning blond hair having the colour of the fire  or the colour of the bronze. Anyway, there’s a variety of nuances.



Rainbowlight said:


> _rubio_ (referring to blond hair or a blond man) or _rubia_ (a blond woman) both derive from Latin _rubeus_, which seems to link blond hair to red-coloured or reddish hair.


Rubeus, -a, -um is a derivative of ruber, -bra, -brum (< PIE *h1rudh-ro- [adj.] 'red'), one of whose PIE cognates is the Greek ἐ*ρυθρ*ὸς (=red).


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## Rainbowlight

ioanell said:


> Major etymological dictionaries and scholar linguists can't give a PIE root of the word ξανθὸς, without excluding that the word might come from a Pre-Greek substratum. What more?
> 
> 
> Your query, as it was originally put, was understood that you were looking for words meaning “blond”, similar-sounding to or slightly differentiated from _ξανθός_ and my answer was that I wasn’t aware of such cases. I don't know if somebody else could provide such adjectives. I guess that by "similar" you don't mean "synonym", because I already gave you one.
> 
> 
> When you came back you broadened the palette by referring to Latin _rubeus_, which seems to link blond hair to red-coloured or reddish hair. Note that “blond” comes [late 15th century] from the French blond, blonde, from medieval Latin blundus ‘yellow’, perhaps from Germanic. Is the blond [=yellow] hair linked to red-coloured or reddish hair? It is true that the frontiers between some colours can sometimes be extremely vague and difficult to differentiate, but are reddish, light brown and blond hair difficult to differentiate? If you were interested in other colours containing the (ancient Greek) word ξανθός (=yellow), I could have furnished you with the compound adjectives ξανθοκόκκινος, πυρρόξανθος (reddish-yellow) or χαλκόξανθος meaning blond hair having the colour of the fire  or the colour of the bronze. Anyway, there’s a variety of nuances.
> 
> 
> Rubeus, -a, -um is a derivative of ruber, -bra, -brum (< PIE *h1rudh-ro- [adj.] 'red'), one of whose PIE cognates is the Greek ἐ*ρυθρ*ὸς (=red).


Thank you so much for your contribution. : )

I am a Spaniard but I am currently living in the Northeast of France. I can see many types of hair colouring in my day-to-day life and I would argue that, sometimes, the span of hair colours that could be defined as blond is indeed quite varied. I find that what is called blond hair is not only the sometimes heavily-bleached tresses of singers like Lady Gaga or even Madonna back in her platinum days of yore.

This is most obvious when one enters in any good hair salon. The palettes and the shades of blond in offer are incredibly nuanced: there's ash blond, strawberry blond, cool blond, warm blond, reddish blond, dark blond, honey blond, sandy blond... I think that these should not be seen as mere marketing strategies but instead as a real proof of the finesse of hair coloring and its very precise expertise.

Thanks again for your enlightening comment. : )


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## ioanell

Rainbowlight said:


> This is most obvious when one enters in any good hair salon.



I agree that in a modern “coiffure” salon one might see nowadays a variety of shades of blond, the names of which I don't know, but my answer regarding the translation of the adjective blond in Greek had to do with the basic meaning of the word ξανθός in the Greek language from the ancient era on, that of “fair or pale yellow”. Anyway, you‘re very welcome!


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## Rainbowlight

ioanell said:


> I agree that in a modern “coiffure” salon one might see nowadays a variety of shades of blond, the names of which I don't know, but my answer regarding the translation of the adjective blond in Greek had to do with the basic meaning in the Greek language from the ancient era on, that of “fair or pale yellow”. Anyway, you‘re very welcome!


Thank you very much for your comment.

The key issue here, as far as I can see, is whether the word _blond _derives from its resemblance to an actual object or perhaps makes reference to the act of dying one's hair. As far as I know, that which we know as _blond_ has been compared to many things throughout the years: sand, straw, gold, tow... Spanish adjectives "trigueño" or "pajizo" (wheat-coloured and straw-coloured, respectively) are still used nowadays in common parlance to refer to hair that may recall the colour of wheat or straw.

I would like to make clear that I am by no means trying to make a grand statement or pretend this humble message is the ultimate discovery in the field of etymology. But I am certainly curious about the fact that English _yellow_, Italian _giallo_, French _jaune or _Spanish_ amarillo_ seemed like the proper, logical matches when it came to refer to blond hair, as many people seemed to agree with the idea of that shade being the closest, most similar colour to blond human hair. However, the language evolved through the centuries and _blond_ seemed to crystallize as the chosen word in several languages to refer to blond hair.

I sometimes feel like giving up on this subject, as I realize that colour perception in humans depends on a number of factors that are definitely not objective and are incredibly complex. If you would ask me to name an object that is unmistakably yellow in colour, I would probably choose the flower of a dandelion as a perfect example. Why? Well, there were not any wheat fields where I was born and raised and I wasn't particularly used to the sight of straw... or gold, for that matter. : )

Thanks for bearing with me during this message and please forgive its lengthiness. : )

Best regards.


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