δύο
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δυάς
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
duas
English translation (word)
dyad, group of two, the number two
Transliteration (Etymon)
duo
English translation (etymon)
two
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 289
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967)
Quotation
Δυάς: Παρὰ τὸ δῶ, τὸ δεσμῶ· ἵν’ ᾖ ὁ ἐκ συνδέσεως πρῶτος ἀριθμὸς, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῆς μονάδος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ συνδεδέσθαι ἄλλῳ ἀριθμῷ, τῷ ἑνί· τὸ γὰρ ἓν ἀπολελυμένον ἐστὶ, παρὰ τὴν ἕσιν καὶ τὴν ἄφεσιν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ διεῖναι· μόνη γὰρ πρώτη ἡ δυὰς διΐσταται ἀπὸ τῆς μονάδος· ὅθεν οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι τόλμαν αὐτὴν εἶπον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δύο, δυάς
Translation (En)
Duas "dyad": from deō "to bind", for it is the first number in the series by opposition to "one". Or from the fact it is linked (sundedesthai) to another number, the number one, for "one" is separated, from hesis "letting go" and aphesis "letting go". Or from dieinai "to be distant". for the dyad alone is the first to stand apart from the monad, which is why the Pythagoreans call it "boldness". Or from duo "two", duas
Modern etymology
Derivative of δύο
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has δυάδα "group of two" as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Correct derivational etymology. It is so trivial that it is generally not mentioned in the Etymologica, which rather list fanciful etymologies rooted in philosophical speculations. In the Etym. magnum, it is mentioned at the end, like an uninteresting etymology not needing any comment