*δάω + φρήν

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Word-form

δαΐφρων

Transliteration (Word)

daïphrōn

English translation (word)

wise

Transliteration (Etymon)

*daô + phrēn

English translation (etymon)

to know + mind

Author

Aristarchus

Century

2 BC

Source

Epimerismi homerici

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, delta 57

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2] Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995

Quotation

Δαΐφρων […] Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ ‘κουριδίης <τ’> ἀλόχοιο δαΐφρονος’ {Πηνελοπείης} (ο 356), οὐ σημαίνει τὴν πολεμικήν, ἀλλὰ τὴν σώφρονα καὶ συνετήν. καὶ γέγονε παρὰ τὸ δαῶ, τὸ μανθάνω, ὁ μέλλων δαήσω καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ δαΐφρων·

Translation (En)

Daïphrōn "wise" […] However, for the "his legitimate wise spouse" (Od. 15.356), it does not mean "warlike", but "wise" and "knowing". And it comes from *daô "to learn", the future of which is daēsō, and from it daïphrōn

Comment

An instance of complementary etymology: δαΐφρων can be assumed to mean "warlike" when it is the epithet of a hero, but not when it is the epithet of a woman. Therefore in this precise context another meaning is necessary, and together with it another etymology. The first member is then related to ἐδάην "I kew", δαήμων "knowledgeable", both derived from a ghost form *δαῶ. This is the correct etymology from the modern point of view. It was preserved only in this context.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 330 (idem); Suda, delta 18 (Δαΐφρονος: συνετοῦ ἢ πολεμικοῦ [implicit etymology]); Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 308 (Τὸ δὲ δέδαε φρεσὶ, δαΐφρονα συνθέτως βούλεται καὶ τὴν Κίρκην εἶναι); ibid., vol. 1, p. 254 (Σημείωσαι δὲ καὶ ὡς εἴπερ οὕτως οἱ Φαίακες ἀπόλεμοι, οὐδ’ ἂν ἡ βασιλικὴ παῖς δαΐφρονα τὸν πατέρα καλοίη, ὡς δαΐα φρονοῦντα. ὡς φρόνιμον δὲ ἀπὸ μαθήσεως καὶ συνεθισμοῦ); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 169 (καλεῖ τὸν Ἀντίμαχον, εἰρωνευόμενος ἐν βαρύτητι καὶ καταφερόμενος αὐτοῦ, εἴγε δαΐφρων ὤν, ἤτοι συνετός, φαύλην γνώμην εἰσήνεγκεν, ἢ καὶ ἄλλως δαΐφρων ὤν, τουτέστιν ἀνδρεῖος, ἐδόκει γενναῖόν τι ποιεῖν κτείνων τὸν ἐπὶ εἰρήνῃ ἐλθόντα); ibid., vol. 3, p. 235 (ἴσως δὲ καὶ κατὰ διπλόην ἐπαίνου τλήμονα καὶ φρόνιμον ἡ λέξις ἄνδρα δηλοῖ καθ’ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ δαΐφρων, ὅτε δάϊον σημαίνει καὶ φρόνιμον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 245 ( Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ δαΐφρονος Πηνελοπείης, οὐ σημαίνει τὴν πολεμικὴν, ἀλλὰ τὴν σώφρονα καὶ συνετήν· παρὰ τὸ δαῶ, τὸ μανθάνω, δαΐσω· καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, δαΐφρων); Etym. Symeonis, delta 19 (Δαΐφρων· ὃ σημαίνει τὸν συνετόν· παρὰ τὸ δαίω, τὸ γινώσκω, ἵν’ ᾗ ὁ δεδαηκὼς φρόνησιν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δα ἐπιτατικὸν ὁ μεγάλως φρονῶν· ἐὰν δὲ τὸν πολεμικὸν σημαίνει ὡς τὸ δαΐφρονα Τυδέως υἱόν. Παρὰ τὴν δαΐν, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν μάχην, ὁ τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον φρονῶν); Schol. Od. 1.48b1 Pontani (δαΐφρονι: πολεμόφρονι. δαῒς γὰρ ἡ μάχη. ὅταν δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς Πηνελόπης λέγῃ, δεδαηκυίῃ κατὰ τὰς φρένας, τουτέστι μεμαθηκυίῃ, ἐξ οὗ τὴν συνετὴν καὶ σώφρονα βούλεται δηλοῦν)

Modern etymology

Δαΐφρων originally means "wise", from *dn̥s-i-. The word was reinterpreted as meaning "warlike" when it was used as an epithet of Homeric heroes, by a synchronic etymology relating it to ἐν δαῒ λυγρῇ

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre