γαίω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
γαῖα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
gaia
English translation (word)
earth
Transliteration (Etymon)
gaiō
English translation (etymon)
to exult
Century
5-6 AD
Source
Etym. Magnum
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallirges, p. 223
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967)
Quotation
Ἀλλ’ ἀντίκειται Σέργιος ὁ γραμματικὸς, λέγων ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ γῆ ἐστι τὸ γαῖα, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ γαίω
Translation (En)
But the grammarian Sergius opposes that, saying that gaia "earth" is not derived from gē "earth" but from gaiō "to exult"
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 58 (Οἱ δὲ φασὶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ γῆ τὸ ΓΑΙΑ διὰ διφθόγγου γράφεται, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ γαίω, τὸ γαυριῶ); Etym. Symeonis, gamma 7 Baldi (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, gamma, p. 418 (idem)
Modern etymology
Variant of γῆ, unknown etymology (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has γαίαι (plural) as a learned word for "lands", and the singular in the readymade phrase γαίαν έχοι ελαφράν "may the earth be light on him"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology. It is a reversible etymology (see γαίω / γαῖα), provided without any semantic justification. If γαίω is understood as meaning "to be great or high", then the earth is etymologized as the great or large one