γείνομαι
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Γείτ⟦ων· διὰ⟧ τῆς ει ⟦διφθόγγου⟧· λ⟦έγει δὲ⟧ ὁ Δίδυμος <p. 402, 7 Schmidt>, ⟦ὅτι ὥσπερ ἀπὸ⟧ τοῦ τεύχω γίνεται τέκτων, οὕτω ⟦καὶ ἀπὸ⟧ τοῦ γείνω τοῦ σημαίνοντος τὸ πλη⟦σιάζω⟧, ὅπερ γράφεται διὰ τῆς ει, γίνεται γείτων. ⟦Ἀ⟧λεξίων μέν<τοι>, ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ γέα τοῦ διὰ τοῦ ε γεγραμμένου, γίνεται γεΐτων καὶ κράσει γείτων.
Translation (En)
Geitōn "neighbour", spelled with ei; Didymus says that, as from teukhō "to produce" one derives tektōn "artisan", so from the verb geinō meaning "to have intercourse with", which is spelled with ei, one derives geitōn "neighbour". But Alexion says that geitōn comes from gea "earth", spelled with an e, and through contraction one obtains geitōn.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 229 (Γείτων: Παρὰ τὸ γέα γεΐτων· καὶ κατὰ συναίρεσιν, γείτων. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ γείνω, τοῦ σημαίνοντος τὸ πλησιάζω, γέγονε γείτων. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ γῆ, γηΐτων· καὶ κατὰ συστολὴν καὶ συναίρεσιν, γείτων)
Comment
This etymology was probably devised in opposition to the usual etymology deriving γείτων from *γέα / γῆ, and seeks a justification for the ει, which the other etymology does not account for. The neighbour would then be the one next to whom one lives, with whom one has intercourse. This is a descriptive etymology. It implies a phonetic manipulation, which remains implicit: the comparison with τεύχω / τέκτων implies that a suffix -των is identified in both τέκτων and γείτων and that the [n] of γείνομαι is dropped in the process.