ἀλιταίνω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἠλίθιον
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ēlithios
English translation (word)
idle, vain, foolish
Transliteration (Etymon)
alitainō
English translation (etymon)
to sin
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 240
Ed.
E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1965)
Quotation
Ἤλιθα, πολλὰ πάνυ, ἄγαν πολὺ, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλις γέγονεν, ὅ ἐστι δαψιλῶς, ἠλίθιον δὲ τὸν ἀλιταίνοντα, ὅ ἐστιν ἁμαρτάνοντα.
Translation (En)
ēlitha: "very much, too much". It comes from halis "in plenty", which means "abundantly". And ēlithios "foolish" is the one who commits a sin (alitainonta), that is, an error
Parallels
ibid., p. 240 (Ἤλιθα, πολλὰ, παρὰ τὸ ἅλις ὅ ἐστι δαψιλῶς ἢ ἀθρόως. ἠλίθιον δὲ τὸν ἀλιταίνοντα, ὅ ἐστιν ἁμαρτάνοντα, παρὰ τὸ ἅλις, ἅλιθα καὶ ἥλιθα, ὡς ἄπειρος ἤπειρος. καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ματαίως τάττεται, ἐπέχραον ἤλιθα χερσὶν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ματαίως)
Modern etymology
Derivative of ἤλιθα
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has ηλίθιος "naive, mindless"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology requiring several formal changes, from /t/ to /th/ and from /a/ to /ē/. The common feature is the notion of error: the sinning man makes an error and so does the foolish one