Talk:Xanthochroi
Latest comment: 7 months ago by Soap in topic etymology
etymology[edit]
As i posted on the Information Desk, i think this word's etymology is actually ξανθός (xanthós, “yellow”) + ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale”), and refers to a combination of hair and skin color, not just to skin color as we currently claim. some more evidence for that is how it is contrasted with Melanochroi here (go to page 232) ... since melanochroi refers to people with dark hair but light skin, it seems that he's classifying people by hair+skin type, with the hair color term first. the term xanthomelanoi seems not to appear in this book. —Soap— 20:46, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
- Oddly, though, in another book, the same author uses Xanthomelanoi to mean Asians. Perhaps they changed their naming scheme over time. Anyway, although I remember seeing Melanochroi in a hardcover dictionary i had in childhood, it was probably one of the last to include it, and i agree these terms have fallen out of use (and maybe were never really in wide use). —Soap— 21:03, 5 October 2023 (UTC)