νάω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Νηδύς. ἀπὸ τοῦ διανενῆσθαι τὰ τῆς τροφῆς, ὅ ἐστι σεσωρεῦσθαι καὶ πεπληρῶσθαι· ἢ ὅτι ἐπάρδευσις τῷ σώματι τῆς τροφῆς ἀπὸ ταύτης γίνεται. νάειν γὰρ ἐστὶ τὸ ῥεῖν.
Translation (En)
Nēdus "womb": from the fact that it is heaped (dianenēsthai) with everything pertaining to the embryo, that is, stuffed and filled. Or because from it comes the watering of the body of the embryo, for naein means "to flow"
Parallels
Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 8 (νηδύς […] ἢ ὅτι ἡ παρόδευσις τῆς τροφῆς τοῦ ἐμβρύου ἀπ’ αὐτῆς γίνεται· νάειν γὰρ τὸ ῥέειν); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 1 (νηδύς, ὅτι μεθ’ ἡδύτητος ἐνεργεῖ· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ διανεν[εμ]ῆσθαι, ὅ ἐστι σεσωρεῦσθαι καὶ πεπληρῶσθαι. <…> νάειν γὰρ τὸ ῥέειν [with a lacuna before νάειν]); Etym. Gudianum, nu, p. 407 (Νηδὺς, ἡ γαστὴρ, παρὰ τὸ νάειν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ νῶ τὸ σωρεύω· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ νάω τὸ ῥέω, διὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ σεσωρεῦσθαι τὸ ἔμβρυον. | Νηδὺς, ἡ γαστὴρ, ἀπὸ τοῦ διανενῆσθαι τὰ τῆς τροφῆς, ὃ ἔστιν σεσωρεῦσθαι καὶ πεπληρῶσθαι· ἢ ὅτι ἐπάρδευσις τοῦ σώματος τῆς τροφῆς· ἀπὸ γὰρ τούτου γίνεται· νάειν γὰρ τὸ ῥεῖν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 603 (Νηδύς: Ἡ γαστήρ. Ἀπὸ τοῦ νῶ νήσω, τὸ σωρεύω, νηδὺς, εἰς ἣν σωρεύονται αἱ τροφαί. Ἢ οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ διανενῆσθαι τὰ τῆς τροφῆς ἐν αὐτῇ, ὅ ἐστι σεσωρεῦσθαι τὰ βρώματα· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ νάειν, ὅ ἐστι ῥεῖν· ἡ γὰρ ἐπάρδευσις τῷ σώματι τῆς τροφῆς ἀπὸ ταύτης γίνεται)
Comment
Derivational etymology, relying on the observation that the womb is filled with liquid within the amnion, which "flows" around the embryo. An alternative explanation is that the womb delivers liquid food (blood) to the embryo via the umbilical cord