τίθημι + νῶτος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
θάνατος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
thanatos
English translation (word)
death
Transliteration (Etymon)
tithēmi + nōton (anat.)
English translation (etymon)
to set + back
Century
7-8 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Viae dux 2.8
Ed.
K.-H. Uthemann, Anastasius Sinaïtae viae dux [Corpus Christianorum. Series Graeca 8. Turnhout: Brepols, 1981
Quotation
Θάνατος, «θένωτος», διὰ τὸ τίθεσθαι κατὰ νώτου τὸν θνῄσκοντα
Translation (En)
Thanatos “death”: *thenōtos, because we lay dying people on their back.
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, theta, p. 254 (Θάνατος, παρὰ τὸ τάνατος, τείνει γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τῇ ψύξει. ἢ διὰ τὸ θανάσιμον, ἢ ταναρός τις ἐστιν, ὡς ἐπὶ πάντας διατείνων. ἢ θενωτος, διὰ τὸ τίθεσθαι κατὰ νῶτα τὸν ἀποθνήσκοντα [NB: Sturz prints θείνωτος, the correct spelling is found in the Etym. Magnum]); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 442 (Θάνατος: […] Ἢ θενῶτός τις ὢν, διὰ τὸ ἐπὶ νῶτα τίθεσθαι τὸν τεθνεῶτα)
Modern etymology
The etymology of θάνατος is disputed. It implies a root *dhenh2- "to flee, to depart" with cognates in Indo-Iranian (Beekes)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology, keeping from the first member (τίθημι) only the stem θε- of θέσθαι, θέσις while the second member νῶτον is kept in full. This yields the required consonant structure. Next two formal changes are required to change the vowels, the first [e] into [a] and the [ō] into [a] (those changes are not explicitly mentioned in the explanation)