ξέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ξένος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
xenos
English translation (word)
guest-friend, host, stranger
Transliteration (Etymon)
xeō
English translation (etymon)
to carve, to shave
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum Gudianum, xi 414.45-46, 415.5
Ed.
F.W.Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818
Quotation
<Ξένος>, παρὰ τὸ ἔξω ἰέναι, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς τῆς ἑνότητος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ξέω, ὁ ἐξεσμένος καὶ ἀποκεχωρισμένος·[…] <Ξένος>, παρὰ τὸ ἔξω εἶναι
Translation (En)
xenos ("host"),from "to go abroad" (exō ienai) or from "out of the unit" (ektos tēs enotētos); or from "to carve" (xeō), the person who is "rubbed away" (exesmenos) and completely separated […] xenos (host), from "to be outside" (exō einai)
Parallels
See Etymologicum Magnum 503, line 19-21 Kallierges, with the compound καταξέω (polish smooth or rub away?) in the entry κενός : …Ἢ παρὰ τὸ χέω, χενὸς καὶ κενός· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ξέω, ξενὸς ὁ κατεξεσμένος, καὶ κενός (cf. Et. Gudianum, p. 314.31 Sturz : ἢ ξένος ὁ κατεξεσμένος καὶ κενός)
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 takes the word back to a simple verb, ξέω, whereas most etymologies parse it as a compound of "outside". The link with ξέω is unexpected: the verb is understood in a metaphoric meaning which can hardly be applied to a human being. It relies on the basic notion that the stranger is separated from his community, and then the etymologist tried to find a word which could mean "separate" and was phonetically close to ξένος