ἀνήρ + πούς

Word

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἀνδράποδον

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ-1 .
LSJ-2

Transliteration (Word)

andrapodon

English translation (word)

war captive sold as slave

Transliteration (Etymon)

anēr + pour

English translation (etymon)

man + foot

Author

Diogenes Laertius

Century

3 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Vitae philosophorum 6.67

Ed.

H.S. Long, Diogenis Laertii vitae philosophorum, 2 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964

Quotation

Ἐρωτηθεὶς διὰ τί ἀνδράποδα ἐκλήθη, “ὅτι,” φησί, “τοὺς πόδας ἀνδρῶν εἶχον, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν ὁποίαν σὺ νῦν ὁ ἐξετάζων” 

Translation (En)

The question being asked why footmen are so called, he replied, "Because they have the feet of men, but souls such as you, my questioner, have" (trans. Hicks)

Comment

This etymology is formally correct, but it is a pun by the Cynic philosopher Diogenes, which must be read "they have only the feet of men", by opposition to their soul. A different interpretation of the combination "man" + "foot", relying on anatomical analogy, is found in Byzantine Etymologica (see Parallels): the slaves are at the bottom of society as feet are the lowest part of the body, and are submitted to their master as feet are submitted to the head. Notice that some sources (e.g. Suda) give the latter etymology for ἀνδράποδον but a different one for ἀδραποδιστής (see ἀνδράποδον / ἀποδίδωμι).

It is worth pointing out that Hicks who translates the text into English plays with the English word footman, consisting of the same concepts ('feet' + 'man'), which dates to the 14th century, designating 'the soldier who is on foot' and resulting in expressing 'the man who assists a man' (18th cent.). 

Parallels

Suda, alpha 2155 (ἀνδράποδον δὲ εἴρηται ὁ ποῦς ὁ ἐν ἀνδράσιν, ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑποκειμένου μέρους τῷ ὅλῳ· ὑπόκειται γὰρ τῷ δεσπότῃ ὁ οἰκέτης, καθάπερ ὁ ποῦς τῷ ὅλῳ καὶ ἀνωτέρω σώματι); Schol. rec. in Aristophanem, Comm Plutum 521a (“ἀνδραποδιστής” εἴρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄνδρα ἀποδίδοσθαι ὅ ἐστι πωλεῖν· “ἀνδράποδα” δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑποκεῖσθαι τὸν οἰκέτην τῷ δεσπότῃ, καθάπερ ὑπόκειται ὁ ποὺς τῷ ἀνδρί); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 2, 504 Van der Valk (Ἅπαξ δὲ ἡ λέξις εἴρηται, καὶ δηλοῖ τοὺς δούλους, ὡς ἀνδρῶν ὄντας πόδας, δηλονότι τῶν δεσποτῶν, οἵπερ εἰς κεφαλὰς ἐκείνοις λογίζονται); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1.57 (Ἰστέον δὲ ὅτι τὸ σημαινόμενον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐξ οὗ σύγκειται ὁ ἀνδροφόνος, συντίθησι καὶ τὰ ἀνδράποδα. δι’ ὧν δοῦλοι σημαίνονται ὑποκείμενοι δεσπόταις, καὶ ὄντες αὐτοῖς ὅπερ οἱ κατωτάτω πόδες ὅλῳ τῷ ἄνω σώματι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 190 (Ἀνδράποδον. ὁ δοῦλος. εἴρηται καὶ ὁ ποῦς ὁ ἐν ἀνδράσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑποκειμένου μέρους τῷ  ὅλῳ· ὑπόκειται γὰρ τῷ δεσπότῃ ὁ οἰκέτης, καθάπερ ὁ ποῦς τῷ ἀνωτέρῳ καὶ ὅλῳ σώματι)

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 enslaved human being, or someone who is submitted and miserable. There also is noun (εξ)ανδραποδισμός and verb εξανδραποδίζω. (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek).

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