ἐκτείνω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
ἀκτῖνες γοῦν αἱ αὐγαὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκτείνεσθαι λέγονται.
Translation (En)
Its [= the sun's] rays are called aktines after the fact they stretch out (ekteinesthai)
Parallels
Etym. Genuinum B, alpha 386 (Ἀκτίς· παρὰ τὸ ἄγω ἄξω ἦχα ἦγμαι γέγονεν ἀκτίς, οἱονεὶ ἡ πανταχοῦ φερομένη· ἡ γὰρ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου πανταχοῦ φέρεται. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκτείνω γέγονεν ἐκτίς καὶ ἀκτίς· ἡ γὰρ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου πάνυ ἐστὶν ἐκτεταμένη. † καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀΐσσω, τοῦ σημαίνοντος τὸ ὁρμῶ, ὁ μέλλων ἀΐξω ἤϊχα ἤϊγμαι ἤϊκται ἀκτίς· ἡ γὰρ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου ὁρμητική ἐστιν); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 76-77 (<Ἀκτίς>· ⸤δεῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι τὸ ἀκτίς ἐτυμολογεῖτ⸥αι διαφόρως· ἢ γὰρ παρὰ ⟦τὸ⟧ ἄγω γίνεται ἀκτίς, ἡ πανταχοῦ ἀγομένη, ἡ ⟦γὰρ⟧ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου πανταχοῦ φέρεται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ⸤ἐκτείνω ἐκτίς καὶ ἀκτίς, παν⸥ταχοῦ γὰρ ἐφήπλωται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀΐ<σ>σω, τὸ ὁρμῶ, ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ἡλίου λαμπηδὼν ὁρμητική ἐστιν)
The etymology is implicit in Physiologus (redactio prima) 40 (ὁ ἥλιος, ἐὰν μὴ ἐκτείνῃ αὑτοῦ τὰς ἀκτῖνας, οὐ δύναται λάμψαι); Menander Rhetor, Peri epideiktikōn, Spengel p. 382 (περὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα, ἣν ὁ ἥλιος ἐξ ὠκεανοῦ ἐκτείνει φανείς); Johannes Chrysostomus, In transfigurationem, MPG 61, p. 721 (Ἥλιος ἀνίσχων τὰς οἰκείας ἀκτῖνας εἰς πάντα κόσμον ἐκτείνει)
Bibliography
The word is probably an old word meaning "sharp, acute", from an older adjective "provided with a point". It has a cognate in Welsh, meaning "broom" (the plant). The derivation base is found in Baltic and Slavic. See Claire Le Feuvre, Homer from Z to A. Metrics, Linguistics and Zenodotus. Leiden, Brill, 2022, pp. 202 sqq
Comment
Derivational etymology, probably going back to some older philosopher of the Stoic school. The word is analyzed as a derivative from a sequence preverb+verb. One formal change is required, the change of initial [e] into [a]. In Marcus Aurelius' time, the iotacising pronunciation of ἐκτείνω was [ektīnō], making the word very similar to [aktīnes]. It is a descriptive etymology, referring to the appearance of the sun's rays.