νέρθεν

Validation

Yes

Word-form

νάρθηξ

Transliteration (Word)

narthēx

English translation (word)

fore-court (of a church)

Transliteration (Etymon)

nerthen

English translation (etymon)

from beneath

Author

Etym. parvum

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. parvum, nu, 4

Ed.

R. Pintaudi, Etym. parvum, Milan, 1973

Quotation

Νάρθηξ· παρὰ τὸ νέρθεν τοὺ ἀμβῶνος εἶναι

Translation (En)

Narthēx "fore-court of a church": from being nerthen "from beneath" of the ambo

Comment

The Etymologicum parvum explains the name νάρθηξ as an only architectural substantive, that designates the byzantine ante-church (ἐν τοῖς προδόμοις τοῦ ἱεροῦ, says the Suda, Lexicon, π 2367) just beneath the ambo, that is the elevated area in front of the iconostasis. The etymon is a place-adverb νέρθεν (usually ἔνερθε)

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, nu, 403: Νάρθηξ, παρὰ τὸ νέρθεν τοῦ ἄμβωνος εἶναι· ἔστι καὶ σκεῦος ἰατρικόν. Etym. magnum, 597, 54: Νάρθηξ: Σημαίνει δύο· τὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας νάρθηκα, καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ νέρθεν εἶναι τοῦ ἄμβωνος. Σημαίνει καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ κοινῇ συνηθείᾳ λεγόμενον νάρθηκα· καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ νεαρὸν νεάρηξ καὶ νάρθηξ. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ναρὸν, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ ὑγρὸν, νάρηξ, καὶ νάρθηξ. Νάρθηξ ἐστὶ καὶ ἰατρικόν τι τεῦχος· κυρίως, τὸ ἐκ νάρθηκος γεγενημένον·καταχρηστικῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐξ οἱασδήποτε ὕλης

Modern etymology

Unknown, maybe Pre-Greek (according to Beekes)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word survives as νάρθηκας, with the meanings: 1. "the introductory hall of an Orthodox church, where those who had not been baptised stood" and 2. "narthex, splint".

Entry By

Margelidon