ἀνήρ + πέδη

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἀνδράποδον

Transliteration (Word)

andrapodon

English translation (word)

war captive sold as slave

Transliteration (Etymon)

anēr + pedē

English translation (etymon)

man + fetters

Author

Etym. Genuinum

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum, alpha 823

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 2, Athens: Parnassos Literary Society, 1992

Quotation

Ἀνδράποδον· δοῦλος· παρὰ τὸ ἀποδόσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὴν πέδην, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν δεσμόν, ἐπειδὴ τοῖς αἰχμαλώτοις † καὶ τοῖς γε δραπετεύουσι † πέδας περιβάλλουσιν 

Translation (En)

Andrapodon "slave" is from the fact that he was sold; or from pedē "fetters" which means "bond", since they bind in chains those made prisoners in war and the fugitive slaves

Comment

The morphological segmentation ἀνδρά-ποδον is correct and so is the relationship with "foot", since πέδη is the chain binding the feet of a slave or an animal. The formulation is corrupt, and the proper formulation is found in the Etym. Magnum (see Parallels). Descriptive etymology, relying on the alternation between e grade (πέδη) and o grade (-ποδον), familiar to Greek scholars.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 136 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 102 (Ἀνδράποδον: Ὁ δοῦλος· παρὰ τὸ ἀποδόσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὴν πέδην. Τοῖς γὰρ αἰχμαλώτοις καὶ αἰσχίστοις διὰ τὸ δραπετεύειν πέδας περιβάλλουσιν)

Modern etymology

Ἀνδράποδα, lit. "human cattle", is built on the model of τετράποδα "four-footed (cattle)", it is the replacement of an older *dwi-pod- "biped" referring to men as opposed to quadrupeds (Chantraine, DELG).

Persistence in Modern Greek

Ανδράποδο is still used in Modern Greek to designate the ensclaved human being, or someone who is submitted and miserable. There also is noun (εξ)ανδραποδισμός and verb εξανδραποδίζω. (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek).

Entry By

Le Feuvre