εὖνις
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
εὐνοῦχος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
eunoukhos
English translation (word)
eunuch
Transliteration (Etymon)
eunis
English translation (etymon)
bereaved of
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 361
Ed.
G. Stallbaum, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam, 2 vols. in 1, Leipzig: Weigel, 1:1825; 2:1826 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1970)
Quotation
λέγει δὲ εὖνιν ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ εἷς ἑνὸς τὸν μεμονωμένον ἤτοι ἐστερημένον. ὅθεν καὶ εὐνοῦχος ὁ ἐστερημένος ὀχείας
Translation (En)
He says eunin "bereaved of", as from heis, henos "one", the one left alone, that is, deprived of. Hence eunoukhos "eunuch", the one deprived of sexual intercourse
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 4,p. 569 (τινὲς δέ φασιν ὅτι παρὰ τὴν εὐνὴν ὁ εὖνις γίνεται, οἱονεὶ ὁ ἡσυχάζων ὡς ἐν εὐνῇ καὶ ἀπρακτῶν ὡς εὐναζόμενος, ἀφ’ οὗ ὁ ἠρημωμένος καὶ ἐστερημένος. δῆλον δὲ ὡς ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου εὔνιδος καὶ εὐνοῦχος ὁ εὖνις τοῦ ὀχεύειν); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 950 (Εὐνοῦχος […] ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὖνις ὁ ἔρημος, ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ ὀχεῖσθαι. Ἀπὸ τοῦ εἵς ἑνός ἕνις καὶ εὖνις)
Modern etymology
Compound of εὐνή and ἔχω, meaning "he who guards the bed"
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes, as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on the phonetic similarity between the beginning of the two words. The eunuch is the man "bereaved of" sexual intercourse