διά + φρήν
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δαΐφρων
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
daïphrōn
English translation (word)
wise
Transliteration (Etymon)
dia + phrēn
English translation (etymon)
through + mind
Century
9 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, delta 19
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 […] ἢ παρὰ τὴν διά πρόθεσιν καὶ τὸ φρήν διάφρων, <τῆς διά> σημαινούσης ἐπίτασιν, καὶ ὑπερβιβασμῷ δαΐφρων
Translation (En)
Daïphrōn "wise" […] or from the prefix dia "through" and phrēn "mind", *diaphrōn "great-minded", <dia> having an intensive meaning, and by metathesis daïphrōn
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 330 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 245 (idem)
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
Comment
The first member of the compound is assumed to be the preposition διά, which then requires a metathesis. For that purpose, δια- is assumed to have an "intensive" meaning, the same as in the intensive prefix ζα- < δια-. This etymology is designed to account for the meaning "wise" and not for the meaning "warlike".