γομφίος
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Γόμφιοι: Μύλοι, σφῆνες, δεσμὰ, ἄρθρα, σύνδεσμοι ὀδόντων. Παρὰ τὸ κάμπτω γίνεται γάμπτω· καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γόμφιος, δι’ οὗ γνάπτεται καὶ κάμπτεται ἡ τροφή. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν σφηνῶν, ‘Γόμφοισι συνάρηρεν’. Ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἡμετέρων γομφίων· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀσφαλῶς δράσσονται οὗτοι καὶ σφίγγουσι τὰ παραβαλλόμενα αὐτοῖς, οὕτως κἀκεῖνοι τὰς παρατιθεμένας αὐτοῖς σανίδας.
Translation (En)
Gomphioi "molars": molars, pegs, bonds, articulations, ligaments of the teeth. From kamptō "to curve" comes *gamptō, and from there *gamphios, by which food is curved and made round. But for the pegs, <as in> ‘gomphoisi sunarēren’ "he attached it with pegs" (Od.5.248), it arose by metaphor from our teeth: for, as they seize and take hold of what is given to them, similarly those pegs hold the planks that are next to them
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, gamma, p. 447 (Γόμφοι. καρφία, σφῆνες, δεσμά. [αἱ μύλαι. παρὰ τὸ κάμπτω γίνεται γάμπτω, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γόμφος, δι’ οὗ γνάμπτεται καὶ κάμπτεται ἡ τροφή)
Comment
A rare instance of correct etymology relating γόμφος "peg" and γομφίος "molar" as a case of proper vs metaphoric meaning, illustrating the unifying approach of etymology. From the formal point of view, the derivation is the opposite of the real one (γόμφος is assumed to be derived from γομφίος: linguistically, the base is γόμφος and the derivative is γομφίος), which results from the priority given to the "human" meaning (tooth belongs to human anatomy) over the non-human one ("peg" is a tool)