The Etymology of the Avestan Hapax bixǝδra- and the Exegesis of Vidēvdād 19.21

An analysis of Videvdad 19.21 based on comparison with other Avestan passages allows the conclusion to be drawn that the hapax bixəδra- is used as a designation for the gōmēz, the cow’s urine employed as a means of purification in the cleansing rite of the barašnom. Accordingly, a new etymological hypothesis is proposed: the noun bixəδra- is the reflex of a PIE *bhik-tro- ‘instrument of purification’ (derived from a root *bheig- ‘to purify’) which can be directly compared with the derivational base of the Greek adjective ἀφικτρός ‘impure’ recorded by Hesychius. As suggested by Eric P. Hamp, Greek ἀφοίβαντος “impure,” and Φοῖβος, epithet of Apollo, can be traced back to the same root by positing that these forms contain a suffix with initial -u-.