ἔξω + εἷς
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ξένος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
xenos
English translation (word)
guest-friend, host, stranger
Transliteration (Etymon)
exō + heis
English translation (etymon)
out of + one
Century
10 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
epsilon 3308
Ed.
A. Adler, Suidae lexicon, Leipzig: Teubner, 1928-1935
Quotation
ὡς ξένος, ὁ ἔξω τῆς ἑνότητος ὤν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔξω εἶναι
Translation (En)
like xenos ("host"), the person who is "out of" (exō) the "unit{ (enotētos), or from "to be outside"
Parallels
Suda, epsilon 3308 (ὡς ξένος, ὁ ἔξω τῆς ἑνότητος ὤν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔξω εἶναι) ; Etymologicum Magnum, p. 610, 50-51 Kallierges (<Ξένος>: Παρὰ τὸ ἔξω ἰέναι. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς τῆς ἑνότητος εἶναι) ; Et. Gudianum, epsilon 547, 14 (ὡς καὶ ξένος ὁ ἐκτὸς ἑνότητος ὤν) ; Et. Gudianum, xi 414, 45-46 (<Ξένος>, παρὰ τὸ ἔξω ἰέναι, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς τῆς ἑνότητος)
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
Comment
This etymology as most etymologies provided for ξένος parses the word as a compound, the first element of which is ἔξω, and the second element εἷς "one", here probably referring to the social unit which the city constitutes. A foreigner is "outside of the civic unit" as a foreign body. From the formal point of view, this etymology implies an apocope of the initial vowel, as in the competing etymologies, and does not take into account the abstract suffix -της, but only (ἐ)ξ-ενο-, genitive of "one"