δα- + φρήν
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δαΐφρων
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
daïphrōn
English translation (word)
wise
Transliteration (Etymon)
da- + phrēn
English translation (etymon)
much + mind
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 245
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848
Quotation
δαΐφρων […] Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ΔΑ ἐπιτατικὸν, ὁ μεγάλως φρονῶν
Translation (En)
Daïphrōn "wise" […] or from the intensive da-, the one who has proud thoughts (megalôs phronôn)
Parallels
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)
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 is identified as the intensive prefix δα-. This implies that the /I/ is a secondary addition. This meaning "proud" may be more appropriate for the meaning "warlike" than for the meaning "wise". It appears after the etymology by δάω "to learn", though. It is likely that it results from an alteration of the older etymology found in the Epimerisms, and later on repeated by the Et. Magnum, by a compound *δια-φρων, in which δια- is said to have an intensive meaning (see δαΐφρων / διά + φρήν).