πήγνυμι
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
πῆχυς
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
pēkhus
English translation (word)
forearm
Transliteration (Etymon)
pēgnumi
English translation (etymon)
to fix in
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum (, pi, p. 132
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Πῆχυς. ἀπὸ τοῦ πεπηγέναι ἄκρῳ τῷ βραχίονι.
Translation (En)
Pēkhus "forearm": from the fact it is fixed (pepēgenai) in the extremity of the upper arm.
Parallels
Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 119 (Πῆχυς δὲ εἴρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ πεπήγεναι ἄκρῳ τῷ βραχίονι); Etym. Gudianum, pi, p. 467 (Πῆχυς, παρὰ τὸ πεπηγέναι ἄκρῳ τῷ βραχίονι· καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πηχυαῖος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 671 (Πῆχυς: Ἐπὶ τῆς χειρός· ἀπὸ τοῦ πεπηγέναι ἄκρῳ τῷ βραχίονι)
Modern etymology
Inherited name of the arm, cognate with Ved. bāhú- "arm", Av. bāzu-, PIE *bheh2g̑hu-. Isolated within Greek (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG has πήχης "forearm", "cubit"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Descriptive derivational etymology: the forearm is etymologized after its position. It relies on the acrophobic principle, as lemma and etymon share the initial syllable πη-. This requires a change of [g] (πήγνυμι) into [kh] (πῆχυς), which remains implicit in Orion's formulation.