ἀκινάκης <Iranian; Classical period>
👉 ἀκινάκης [⏑-⏑-, only on the basis of Latin sources], gen. -ου, -εω, -εος, m. ‘short straight sword (used especially by Persians and Scythians)’ (Hdt. 3.118, 3.128, 7.54 etc.; IG 1.3 351.17: 5th c. BCE; Ctes. 26.2; etc.); some later sources state incorrectly that ἀκινάκης is a spear (Hsch. α 2405; Schol. in Plat. 553c; Suda α 882). Cf. Latin acīnacēs, -is m. ‘short Persian sword’ (from Greek).
⚠ Hdt. 7.54 mentions that Xerxes, after pouring a libation, throws into the water not only vessels. but also a sword: Περσικὸν ξίφος τὸν ἀκινάκην καλέουσι. – “a Persian sword that they call akinakēs”. Some other authors also explain ἀκινάκης explicitly as “a Persian sword”: ἀκινάκης· (...) Περσικὸν ξίφος (Harpocr. s.v. Ἀκινάκης), τοῖς τῶν Περσῶν ἀκινάκαις (Jos., AJ 20.186), ἀκινάκην Περσικὸν ξιφίδιόν τι (Poll. 1.138); cf. Schol. in Plat. 553c: ἀκινάκαι (!) δὲ Περσικόν τι ξίφος, ἢ δόρυ μικρὸν Περσικόν. – “akinakai (plur.) is a Persian sword or a Persian small spear”; Hsch. α 2405: ἀκινάκης∙ Περσικὸν δόρυ – “akinakēs: a Persian spear”; Suda α 882: Ἀκινάκης: μικρὸν δόρυ Περσικόν – “Akinakēs: a small Persian spear”. The contexts in many sources connect the sword with the Persians (Hdt. 3.118; 3.128 etc.; Ctes. 26; Plat., Resp. 553c; Demosth., In Timocr. 129; etc.), less often with the Scythians (Hdt. 4.70; Schol. in Luc. 37.34), as well as once with the Caspians, a people dwelling by the Caspian Sea (Hdt. 7.67). Moreover, the sword ἀκινάκης occurs as a kind of statue of the Scythian (or Sarmatian) war-god (Hdt. 4.62; Clem. Alex., Protr. 4.46.2; 5.64.5; Schol. in Luc. 21.42) and, hence, Ἀκινάκης is treated in late authors as a Scythian theonym (Ephiphan., Pan. 1.178; Schol. in Luc. 21.42).
🅔 Probably a loanword from Old Iranian. The word is connected to Sogdian (B) kīnak (kynʾk) ‘sword’, but more comparative material is lacking; ἀκινάκης and kīnak are independent from each other and go back ultimately to an Old Iranian source (cf. a hypothesis that kīnak is a Greek borrowing). Other proposals: 1. ἀκι- related to Sanskrit asi- ‘sword; knife’ and Young Avestan aŋhū- ‘bow’ (earlier interpreted as ‘sword’); 2. -κι- in ἀκινάκης and kī- in kīnak (as well as Latin cae- in caelum ‘chisel’) from the alleged root *kai̯- / *ci- ‘to cut’; 3. from the Old Iranian *akināka- (reconstructed on the basis of ἀκινάκης); 4. from the Iranian *(h)a-kai̯nakā̆- (actually a thought experiment, not a hypothesis); *(h)a- treated as ha- ‘together’ or a- (a privative prefix).
📖 Data: SogdD: 203. Ref.: Hinz 1975: 27; Malandra 1973: 267; cf. Brust 2008: 56-64.