γάμος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
δάμαρ
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
damar
English translation (word)
spouse, wife
Transliteration (Etymon)
gamos
English translation (etymon)
wedding
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Delta 30a
Ed.
Baldi, Etymologicum Symeonis (Γ—Ε) [Corpus Christianorum. Series Graeca 79] Turnhout, Brepols, 2013
Quotation
Δάμαρ· ἡ γαμετή· παρὰ τὸ γάμον, γάμαρ καὶ δάμαρ
Translation (En)
Damar "spouse: : the married one; from gamos "wedding", ‹one derives› gamar and then damar
Parallels
Etymologicum magnum, Kallierges p. 246, 41 (παρὰ τὸ γάμον, γάμαρ καὶ δάμαρ); Scholia in Euripidis Hecubam, Sch. 493 (δάμαρ ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ δαμάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ γάμος γάμαρ καὶ δάμαρ).
Attempt to reconcile the two competing etymologies by δαμάζω and γάμος: Additamenta in Etymologicum Gudianum 308 (εἴωθεν δὲ τὸ δ εἰς γ τρέπεσθαι, ὡς γάμος· δάμος γάρ ἐστιν, ἐν ᾧ ὑποτάττεται ἡ γυνὴ τῷ ἀνδρί. ἔνθεν καὶ δάμαρ καλεῖται.); Epimerismi homerici, upsilon 35 (γάμος ἀπὸ τοῦ δάμος, ὁ δαμαστικὸς τῶν θηλείων, ὅθεν τὰς παρθένους άδαμάστους λέγουσιν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 220
Modern etymology
Unclear, may be derived from the name of the "house" domos (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word is not used in Modern Greek
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology relies on the semantic link between "wife" and "marriage" and the common phonetic sequence [am]. From the formal point of view, it implies a phonetic manipulation, a modification of the initial consonant [g] into [d]: the fact that the two consonants are contiguous in alphabetic order may have played a role, since in the mind of Greek etymologists, this contiguity establishes a "natural" relationship between them. This manipulation is reversible: conversely, γάμος is etymologized from δαμάζω. See s.v. γάμος