δίζω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
δίκη
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
dikē
English translation (word)
justice
Transliteration (Etymon)
dizō
English translation (etymon)
to be in doubt, to search
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, delta, p. 47
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820
Quotation
Δίκη. δίζω ῥῆμα, παρὰ τὸ δίζεσθαι
Translation (En)
Dikē "justice" : the verb is dizō "to be in doubt", from dizesthai ("to search")
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, delta p. 364 (Δίκη· παρὰ τὸ δίζω, ὅτι ἀμφίβολον αὐτῆς τὸ πέρας: dikē is from dizō "to be in doubt", because its end is uncertain)
Modern etymology
The word is related to δείκνυμι "I show" and its original meaning is probably “direction” (Chantraine 1968, 284)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word "δίκη" is used in Modern Greek to denote the official juridicial procedure for the distribution of justice ('trial'). See also the MG phrase "Θεία Δίκη", meaning the 'divine justice/punishment' (Triandafyllidis Dictionary of MG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology is found only in Orion and, with a further precision, in the Etym. Gudianum (see Parallels). It does not involve any phonetic manipulation but seems to imply a segmentation δί-κη matching δί-ζω. From the semantic point of view, it is a descriptive etymology. As the competing etymology by δίχα "divided in two parts" (see δίκη / δἰχα), it relies on the idea of division linked with the numeral "two", but gives a different interpretation of this division