μέτρον

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Last modification

Mon, 08/22/2022 - 11:10

Word-form

μήτρα

Transliteration (Word)

mētra

English translation (word)

womb

Transliteration (Etymon)

metron

English translation (etymon)

measure

Author

Soranus of Ephesus

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Gynaeciorum libri iv 1.6.1

Ed.

J. Ilberg, Sorani Gynaeciorum libri iv, de signis fracturarum, de fasciis, vita Hippocratis secundum Soranum [Corpus medicorum Graecorum 4. Leipzig: Teubner, 1927

Quotation

Ἡ μήτρα καὶ ὑστέρα λέγεται καὶ δελφύς· μήτρα μὲν οὖν, ὅτι μήτηρ ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς γεννωμένων ἐμβρύων, ἢ ὅτι τὰς ἐχούσας αὐτὴν μητέρας ποιεῖ, κατὰ δέ τινας, ὅτι μέτρον ἔχει χρόνου πρὸς κάθαρσιν καὶ ἀπότεξιν·

Translation (En)

The womb is called mētra and also hustera and delphus: mētra "matrix", because it is the mother (mētēr) of all the newborn babies to which it gives birth, or because those who are provided with it become mothers; but according to some, because it has a measure (metron) of time for purification and childbirth. 

Comment

This etymology, which Soranus mentions without apparently subscribing to it, derived μήτρα from μέτρον. Formally, it relies on the familiar alternation between η and ε (τίθημι / τίθεμεν). Semantically, it refers to the periodic activity of the organ, with monthly periods, hence the notion of "measure" because the activity is regular. This explanation was not successful in Antiquity and is not mentioned anywhere else.

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

Derived from μήτηρ

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has μήτρα "womb"

Entry By

Le Feuvre