ἄγω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ξένος

Transliteration (Word)

xenos

English translation (word)

guest-friend, host, stranger

Transliteration (Etymon)

agō

English translation (etymon)

lead

Author

Oros

Century

5 AD

Source

Etymologicum Magnum

Ref.

Et. Mag. 610, 28 Kallierges

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford, 1848

Quotation

<Ξένος>: Διχῶς· καὶ ὁ ὑποδεχόμενος τὸν ξένον, καὶ ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλλοδαπῆς ἥκων. Καὶ πεποίηται τοὔνομα παρὰ τὴν σκηνὴν, τὸν παρέχοντα σκέπην, ἵν' ᾖ *σκένος καὶ ξένος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄγω ἄξω ἄξενος, καὶ ξένος, ὃν ἄγει τὶς εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ὑποδέχεται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἵξω ἵξενος καὶ ξένος. Ὦρος

Translation (En)

Host’ (xenos): two meanings : the person who receives a foreigner and the person who comes from another country. The word is created from “tent” (skēnē), it refers to the person who offers shelter, so that it yields *skenos and then xenos "guest". Or it is from ‘to lead’ (agō), future I will lead (axō), hence *axenos and then xenos "host", the person someone "leads" (agei) to his home and receives. Or from ixō "I will come”, one derives *ixenos and then xenos "host". This is what Oros says

Comment

This etymology seems to be modelled after the one which is mentioned right afterwards, deriving the word from ἵκω (see ξενός / ἵκω). It seems that we are dealing here with two complementary etymologies, built on the same formal model, and meant to explain two different meanings of ξένος, either "inviting person" (from ἄγω "to lead") or "invited person" (from ἵκω "to come"). The formal derivation is identical : the etymology in either case starts from a future, that is, an inflected form, which provides the sequence [ks], and then implies an apocope of the initial vowel. Apocope was a frequent phenomenon in Oros' time (5 AD), so that it is likely that we can ascribe to Oros not only the etymology deriving ξένος from ἵκω but also the one deriving it from ἄγω, which are two sides of the same coin since they rely on the same formal mechanism and account for the two meanings, active and passive, of ξένος. In that respect, it is not certain whether the intermediate step ἄξενος was equated with ἄξενος "inhospitable" or not (as the semantic relationship between ἄγω "to lead" and ἄξενος "inhospitable" is unjustifiable): it may be a ghost-word invented for the sake of the etymology, parallel to *ἴξενος, and different from the existing ἄξενος "inhospitable"

The first etymology adduced, through σκηνή, is different and may not be by Oros.

Parallels

Etymologicum Gudianum, xi 414, 48 (<Ξένος>, καὶ πεποίηται τὸ ὄνομα παρὰ τὴν σκήνην, τουτ'ἔστιν ὁ παρέχων σκέπην, ἵν' ᾖ κένος καὶ ξένος, ὃν ἄγει τις εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ὑποδέχεται) ; Ps. Zonaras, Lexicon, xi 1415.13-21 <Ξένος>. ὁ πάσης ἰδίων καὶ ἀλλοτρίων σχέσεως φυγάς. καὶ ὁ ἀπὸ ἀλλοδαπῆς χώρας ἥκων. καὶ πεποίηται τοὔνομα παρὰ τὴν σκηνὴν, τὸν παρέχοντα τὴν σκέπην καὶ σκέπασμα, ἵνα ᾖ σκενὸς καὶ ξένος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄγω, ἄξω, ἄξενος καὶ ξένος, ὃν ἄγει τὶς εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀποδέχεται. [ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἵξω, ἵξενος, καὶ ξένος. οὕτως Ὦρος ὁ Μιλήσιος]

Modern etymology

Ξένος (Ionic ξεῖνος) is from ξένϝος. It may go back to *ghs-en-, displaying the zero grade of *ghes- found in Lat. hostis "stranger, enemy", hopes "host", Got. gasts "host". Beekes (EDG) thinks it is Pre-Greek

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word survives in Modern Greek designating: 1. 'not mine', 2. 'foreign', 3. 'unknown, or guest'. Plural neuter "τα ξένα" and fem. ξενιτιά mean 'foreign land of migration'. There also are many derivatives and compounds like ξενίζω, ξενόφερτος etc.

Entry By

Arnaud Zucker