δυσ- + ἵστημι
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δύστηνος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
dustēnos
English translation (word)
unhappy, wretched
Transliteration (Etymon)
dus- + histēmi
English translation (etymon)
badly + to stand
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, p. 292
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967)
Quotation
Δύστηνος: Δυστυχὴς, ταλαίπωρος, ἄθλιος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ στῆναι, οἱονεὶ ὁ μὴ δυνάμενος στῆναι· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ στένω καὶ τοῦ ΔΥΣ ἐπιρρήματος, ὁ πάνυ στένων, ὁ ἀεὶ κακός
Translation (En)
Dustēnos "unhappy, wretched, miserable". Either from stēnai "to stand", as though it were the one unable to stand up, or from stenō "to moan" and the prefix dus-, the one strongly moaning, the one always miserable
Parallels
Etym. Symeonis, delta 406 (Δύστηνος· ταλαίπωρος, δυστυχής· ἢ παρὰ τὸ στῆναι ἐγένετο δύστηνος οἱονεὶ ὁ μὴ δυνάμενος στῆναι· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ στένω ὁ πάνυ στένων); Schol. in Sophoclem, Aj. 122 (idem) Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, delta, p. 577 (Δύστηνος. ἄθλιος, *φρικωδέστατος·* ταλαίπωρος. παρὰ τὸ στῆναι· οἱονεὶ ὁ μὴ δυνάμενος στῆναι. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ στένω, οἱονεὶ ὁ πάνυ στένων)
Modern etymology
The second member of the compound is probably from the root *steh2-, the original meaning must be "who has a bad standing" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Correct etymology from the formal point of view. Semantically, the explanation "unable to stand" must be taken as a metaphor.