μήν
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
μήνη
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
mēnē
English translation (word)
moon
Transliteration (Etymon)
mēnē
English translation (etymon)
month
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 120
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1842: 1-192.
Quotation
Σκοτομήνη, παρὰ τὸ σκότος καὶ τὸ μήνη, ἡ σελήνη, τὸ δὲ σκότος παρὰ τὸ σχέθω, τὸ κωλύω, τὸ δὲ μήνη παρὰ τὸ μειοῦσθαι καὶ ἐκλείπειν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ μὴν μηνός· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ μένω, τὸ ἐπιμένω
Translation (En)
Skotomēnē "moonless night", is from skotos "obscurity" and mēnē "moon"; skotos is from skhethō "to impede", and mēnē is from the fact that it diminishes (meioûsthai) and fades out, or from mēn, mēnos "month" – the latter is from menō "to persist, to remain"
Parallels
Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 107 (ἐπώνυμος μήνης δέ πως μὴν εἰκότως); Etym. Gudianum, sigma p. 504 (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, mu p. 1356 (Μήν. χρόνος ἀπὸ συνόδου ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης ἐπὶ τὴν ἑξῆς σύνοδον. ὡς παρὰ τὸ κέφαλος κεφαλὴν, οὕτω καὶ παρὰ τὸ μείω μειὴν καὶ κατὰ συγκοπὴν μήν. ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ μήνη)
Modern etymology
Μήνη "moon" is a derivative of μήν "moon", then "month" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This is the correct explanation, μήνη is a derivative of μήν, which is the older form for "moon"