ἄβαξ <Iranian?; Early Byzantine period>
👉 ἄβαξ ? (prob. m.) – perhaps a Scythian word with the meaning of ἀνήρ, i.e. ‘man’ (Hsch. α 53), but the interpretation of the Hesychian gloss is quite difficult.
⚠ Hsch. α 53: ἀβακής, ἄβαξ· ἄφωνος, σιωπηρός. καὶ ὄνομα ἀρχιτεκτονικόν ὃ †σκύθαι λέγουσιν ἄνδρα καλεῖν. The first part of the gloss is clear: “abakēs, abaks: voiceless, silent” (cf. Cyrill. α 3: ἄβαξ: ἄφωνος· σιγηλός – “abaks: voiceless, silent”). The second part can be translated as follows: “And an architectural term, which, as the Scythians (?) say, they themselves call a man with”. Accordingly, it is possible that a word similar to Greek ἄβαξ (ἀβακής cannot be treated as an architectural term) existed in Scythian in the meaning of ‘man’; however, this explanation is far from certain.
🅔 Α Scythian word ?