νέομαι
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Νοῦς. […] οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ νεῖσθαι.
Translation (En)
Nous "mind": […‘ others, from neisthai "to go"
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), p. 615 (νοῦς, περὶ τὸ νέεσθαι· ὁ πανταχόσε κινούμενος καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα προϊὼν, ὡς Ὅμηρος, ὥστε πτερὸν ἠνόημαι); Damascius, De principiis, vol. 1, p. 181 (ὥστε ὁ νοῦς, ὅτι νεῖται ἐπὶ τὸ ὄν. […] ἀφ’ ἧς καὶ ὁ νοῦς ἐπικέκληται καὶ πρὸ τῆς γνώσεως εἰς τὸ ὂν ἤδη νεόμενός τε καὶ ἐπανιών); Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 21 (νοῦς δὲ παρὰ τὸ νέεσθαι· ὁ πάντοτε κινούμενος, καὶ ἐπὶ παντὸς προϊὼν ἐν ἡμῖν πράγματος· τί γὰρ ὁρμητικώτερον τοῦ νοῦ; καθὼς Ὅμηρος φησὶν, ‘ὡς δ’ ὅταν ἀΐξῃ νοὸς ἀνέρος’· (Il. 15.80.) καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· ‘ὥστε πτερὸν, ἠὲ νόημα’· (Od. 7.36.)); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 9 ( νοῦς λέγεται παρὰ τὸ νέεσθαι, ὁ πάντοτε κινούμενος); Etym. Gudianum, nu, p. 411 (Νοῦς, παρὰ τὸ νέεσθαι πάντοτε, κινούμενος καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων προϊών· ὃ, τι γὰρ ὁρμητικώτερον νοῦ; Ὅμηρος, οὐδ’ ὅταν ἀΐξη νόος ἄνερος· καὶ ὡσεὶ πτερὸν ἠὲ νόημα); ibid., p. 412 (Νοῦς, παρὰ τὸ νέεσθαι καὶ ὁρμᾷν· τὶ γὰρ κινητικώτερον τοῦ νοός); Joannes Galenus, Allegoriae in Hesiodi Theogoniam, p. 313 (Νηρέα δὲ ὁ λόγος τὸν πρακτικὸν νοῦν ὀνομάζει νῦν, ὃν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πόντου γεννηθῆναι πρεσβύτατον λέγει, τάχα διὰ τὸ νέεσθαι ῥεῖα, τουτέστι πορεύεσθαι); Scholia in Pindarum, O 1.30 (Νόον. […] Εἴρηται δὲ παρὰ τὸ νέεσθαι τὸ πορεύεσθαι, ὁ πάντοτε ἐν ἡμῖν κινούμενος· οὐδὲν γὰρ νοὸς ὁρμητικώτερον. Καὶ Ὅμηρος (Il. 15.80) ‘Ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἂν ἀΐξῃ νόος ἀνέρος’)
Comment
Derivational etymology, relying on the regular alternation e ~ o. Νοῦς, contracted from νόος, is derived from νέομαι, as λόγος is derived from λέγω. The verb νέομαι is understood here as an equivalent of "to go"—this is implicit in Orion, and explicit in later sources. The mind is "moving"