κενός

Validation

Yes

Word-form

γένυς

Transliteration (Word)

genus

English translation (word)

jaw

Transliteration (Etymon)

kenos

English translation (etymon)

empty

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, gamma, p. 40

Ed.

F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820

Quotation

Γένυς,  οἷον †κέρυς τὶς οὖσα, ὅτι κένος τὸ κατ’ αὐ
τὸν μέρος ὀστέων. οἱ δὲ, ὅτι γεννᾷ ὀδόντας καὶ τρίχας

Translation (En)

Genus "jaw", as if it were a †kerus, because it is empty (kenos) of bones in the bottom part. Others say that it is because it generates teeth and hair

Comment

This descriptive etymology attempts to justify the word through a formal characteristic, the absence of bones under flesh. It implies a phonetic change of the voiceless [k] to the voiced [g] which is not immediately clear from Orion's explanation because the text is corrupt, but is clear from the Etym. Magnum which has κένυς instead of the corrupt †κέρυς (see below, Parallels). It starts from the Attic form κενός "empty", regular in koine Greek, leaving aside the dialectal variants (Ionic κεινός, Hom. κενεός).

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 225 (Γένυς τὰ γένεια, οἱονεὶ κένυς τὶς ἐστίν· ὅτι   
κενόν ἐστι τὸ κατ’ αὐτὴν μέρος ὀστέων); Scholia in Batrachomyomachia 10 (ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ κενόν τὸ κοῦφον, διὰ τὸ εἶναι ταῦτα κενὰ ὀστῶν).

Modern etymology

Γένυς "jaw, cheek" is an inherited Indo-European word, cognate with Lat. gena "cheek", Skr. hanu- "jaw-bone", Gothic kinnu "chin", and Engl. chin (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre