κύνδαλος
ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἥκεις τὸν βατῆρα τῆς θύρας → you've come to the crux of the matter, come to the point, hit the nail on the head, you've come to the very threshold of the door, you are come to the very threshold of the door, you've arrived at the truth of the matter
English (LSJ)
ὁ,
A wooden peg, Poll.10.188: pl. κύνδαλα Id.9.120.
German (Pape)
[Seite 1531] ὁ, Pflock, hölzerner Nagel, = πάτταλος, Poll. 10, 188.
Greek (Liddell-Scott)
κύνδᾰλος: ὁ, ξύλινος ἧλος, Πολυδ. Ι΄, 188· κύνδαλα, ὁ αὐτ. Θ΄, 120.
Greek Monolingual
και κίνδαλος, ο (Α κύνδαλος, πληθ. και τὰ κύνδαλα)
1. ξύλινος ή σιδερένιος πάσσαλος, παλούκι, με το οποίο φράζεται μια τρύπα ή συνδέονται δύο τμήματα ενός συνόλου
2. σφήνα, έμβολο, γόμφος.
[ΕΤΥΜΟΛ. Άγνωστης ετυμολ.].
Frisk Etymological English
Grammatical information: m., pl.
Meaning: also -α wooden nail (Poll., H.).
Compounds: κυνδαλο-παίκτης (Poll.), -παίστης (H.) κ.-player'.
Derivatives: κυνδαλισμός the κ. -play (Poll.), also called κυνδάλη (H.).
Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]
Etymology: Formation as the synonymous πάσσαλος, further unknown. A most improbable suggestion of Bugge's (to OHG (h)was sharp) mentioned in Bq; other combinations of the same kind in W.-Hofmann s. triquetrus. The word has the typical appearance of a Pre-Greek word.
