δαμάζω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
damar
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
damar
English translation (word)
spouse, wife
Transliteration (Etymon)
damazō
English translation (etymon)
to tame
Century
3/2 BC
Source
Idem
Ref.
Nomina aetatum 279.21
Ed.
Miller, "Opuscules divers," Lexica Graeca Minora, 1965
Quotation
Δμῶες· οἱ δοῦλοι […], ἀπὸ τοῦ δεδμῆσθαι καὶ οἱονεὶ δαμάζεσθαι· ἐντεῦθεν καὶ δάμαρ, ἡ ὅμευνος
Translation (En)
Dmōes: the slaves, from the fact that they are submitted and so to speak tamed (damazesthai), whence also damar "spouse", the wife
Parallels
D Scholion Iliad 3.122; Apollonius Soph., Lexicon homericum, Bekker p. 56, 13 (δάμαρ ἀνδρὸς γυνή, ἀπὸ τοῦ δεδαμάσθαι τῷ άνδρί); Eustathius, Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem 4, 333, 2 (διὸ καὶ δάμαρ λέγεται, ὡς αὐτὴ δαμαζομένη τῷ ἀνδρί); Etymologicum Gudianum, delta p. 333 (δάμαρ, δάμαρτος· ἡ γαμετή· παρὰ τὸ δαμάζεσθαι καὶ ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ ἀνδρί); Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, omega 1889.
Modern etymology
Unclear, may be derived from the name of the "house" domos (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word does not survive in Modern Greek
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology relies on the phonetic similarity, on the notion of marital authority and on the recurring use of the adjective admētē "untamed" for a virgin in Homer, which implies a contrario that the married woman is "tamed"