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The Greek word ''kentauros'' is of obscure origin.[{{cite journal|last=Scobie|first=Alex|date=1978|title=The Origins of 'Centaurs'|journal=Folklore|volume=89|issue=2|pages=142–147|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1978.9716101}} Scobie quotes {{Cite book |first=Martin P. |last=Nilsson |title=Geschichte der griechischen Religion |date=1955 |quote=Die Etymologie und die Deutung der Ursprungs sind unsicher und mögen auf sich beruhen |author-link=Martin P. Nilsson}}] The [[etymology]] from ''ken'' + ''tauros'', 'piercing bull', was a [[euhemerism|euhemerist]] suggestion in [[Palaephatus]]' rationalizing text on Greek mythology, ''On Incredible Tales'' (Περὶ ἀπίστων), which included mounted archers from a village called ''Nephele'' eliminating a herd of bulls that were the scourge of Ixion's kingdom.{{sfnp|Scobie|1978|p=142}} Another possible related etymology can be "bull-slayer".[[[Alexander Hislop]], in his polemic ''[[The Two Babylons]]: Papal Worship Revealed to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife'' (1853, revised 1858), theorized that the word is derived from the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[Kohen]] and "tor" (to go round) via [[Phonetics|phonetic shift]] the less prominent [[consonant]]s being lost over time, with it developing into '''K'''h'''en''' '''Tor''' or ''Ken-Tor'', and being transliterated phonetically into [[Ionic Greek|Ionian]] as ''Kentaur'', but this is not accepted by any modern philologist.] |
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The Greek word ''kentauros'' is of obscure origin.[[[Oxford English Dictionary]], s.v. “centaur (n.),” revised 2016, accessed March 2026, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5250535095.][{{cite journal|last=Scobie|first=Alex|date=1978|title=The Origins of 'Centaurs'|journal=Folklore|volume=89|issue=2|pages=142–147|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1978.9716101}} Scobie quotes {{Cite book |first=Martin P. |last=Nilsson |title=Geschichte der griechischen Religion |date=1955 |quote=Die Etymologie und die Deutung der Ursprungs sind unsicher und mögen auf sich beruhen |author-link=Martin P. Nilsson}}] The [[etymology]] from ''ken'' + ''tauros'', 'piercing bull', was a [[euhemerism|euhemerist]] suggestion in [[Palaephatus]]' rationalizing text on Greek mythology, ''On Incredible Tales'' (Περὶ ἀπίστων), which included mounted archers from a village called ''Nephele'' eliminating a herd of bulls that were the scourge of Ixion's kingdom.{{sfnp|Scobie|1978|p=142}} Another proposed etymology was "bull-killer".[{{Cite book |last=Gough |first=Edward W. |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_royal_horse_book_Centaur.html?id=nQ8AAAAAQAAJ#v=onepage&q=centaur%20bull]-slayer&f=false |title=The Royal Horse Book: "Centaur;" or The "Turn Out" |date=1885 |pages=14 |language=en}} Proposed Semitic etymologies are far-fetched.[[[Alexander Hislop]], in his polemic ''[[The Two Babylons]]: Papal Worship Revealed to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife'' (1853, revised 1858), theorized that the word is derived from the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] [[Kohen]] and "tor" (to go round) via [[Phonetics|phonetic shift]] the less prominent [[consonant]]s being lost over time, with it developing into '''K'''h'''en''' '''Tor''' or ''Ken-Tor'', and being transliterated phonetically into [[Ionic Greek|Ionian]] as ''Kentaur'', but this is not accepted by any modern philologist.] |
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