εἷς + ἵκω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
νίκη
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
nikē
English translation (word)
victory
Transliteration (Etymon)
heis + hikō
English translation (etymon)
one + to arrive
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, nu, p. 409
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 229-584
Quotation
Νίκη, παρὰ τὸ ἑνὶ δοτικὴν, καὶ ἵκω τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ παραγίνομαι, γέγονε ἑνιΐκη, καὶ κατὰ κράσιν τῶν δύο ιι, εἰς ἰῶτα μακρὸν ἑνίκη· καὶ νίκη ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ε
Translation (En)
Nikē "victory": from the dative heni "to one" and hikō meaning "to arrive", one obtains *heniikē, and by contraction of the two [ii] into a long [ī] *henikē, and nikē by apocope of the [e]
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Unclear (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Νίκη is still used in Modern Greek to designate: 1. 'the win against someone or something', 2. 'a success'. There are many compounds with this word.
Comment
This etymology results probably from a mistake on the older etymology νίκη / εἷς + εἴκω, attested already in Herodian, mistake caused by iotacisme. However, the copyist transformed it into an etymology in its own right. Victory is that which comes to one camp only. Like its source etymology, it implies a contraction to account for the long [ī] and an apocope of the initial [e], but at least there is no internal [e] to cancel.