γένος
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Γένειον, τὸ μέσον καὶ ἐξέχον τῆς κάτω γένυος. ἀπὸ τοῦ δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ γένη διαστέλλεσθαι τῶν ἀῤῥένων καὶ τῶν θηλυκῶν, καὶ ἀτελῶν καὶ τελείων ἡλικιῶν. οὕτω Σωρανός.
Translation (En)
Geneion "chin": the middle part contiguous to the inferior jaw; its name comes from the fact that through it are distinguished the male and female kinds (genē), and the adult and subadult ages. This is what Soranus [of Ephesus] says.
Parallels
Herodian, Peri orthographias, Lentz III/2, p. 458 (Τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰς ος οὐδετέρων δισυλλάβων διὰ τοῦ ειον γινόμενα οὐδέτερα μονογενῆ διὰ τῆς ει διφθόγγου γράφεται, δάνος δάνειον, γένος γένειον); Meletius, De natura hominis p. 74 (γένυς δὲ λέγεται ἐκ τοῦ τὰ γένη διαχωρίζειν τῶν ἀῤῥένων καὶ τῶν θηλειῶν, καὶ τελείων καὶ ἀτελῶν); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 46 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, gamma, p. 304 (παρὰ τὸ γένος, γένειον, ὡς δάνος, δάνειον); ibid. p. 305 (παρὰ τὸ τὰ γένη ἐξ αὐτοῦ διακρίνεσθαι καὶ ἀρρένων καὶ θηλειῶν, καὶ ἡλικίας τελείων καὶ ἀτελῶν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 225 (παρὰ τὸ γένος, γένειον, ὡς δάνος, δάνειον. Ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ γὰρ τὰ γένη διαστέλλονται, καὶ διακρίνει τὰ γένη); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, gamma, p. 430 (idem).
Comment
Γένειον is explained by the physician Soranus as a derivative from γένος "kind", as though the chin were the kind-making bodypart. This etymology is also given by Herodian although he does not explain it (see Parallels). Curiously, γένειον is never explicitly linked with γένυς "jaw", although lexicographers often give γένεια as an equivalent for γένυς and the same etymology is sometimes provide for γένυς (see below, Parallels).