ἐν

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἔντερον

Transliteration (Word)

enteron

English translation (word)

intestine, gut

Transliteration (Etymon)

en

English translation (etymon)

in

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Peri Pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 197

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici graeci III/2, Leipzig 1870

Source

Epimerismi homerici

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, epsilon 186

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2] Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995: 59-761

Quotation

παρὰ τὴν ἐν πρόθεσιν γίνεται τὸ ἐντός καὶ ὡς παρὰ τὴν ὑπέρ ὑπέρτερος, οὕτως παρὰ τὴν ἐν ἔντερον

Translation (En)

From the prefix en "in" comes entos "inside", and as from huper comes huperteros, so from en comes enteron "intestine"

Comment

The word is understood as a derivative of en "in", built with the oppositive suffix -tero-, and this analysis is backed by the parallel ὑπέρ / ὑπέρτερος. All the competing etymologies parse the word as a compound, but all except one agree that the first element is ἐν or ἐντός "inside". Herodian's analysis is the correct one by modern standards.

Parallels

This is the only occurrence

Modern etymology

Ἔντερον is connected within Greek with ἐντός and ἐν and goes back to an inherited *h1entero- "inside part", derivative of *h1en "in" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Modern Greek still has έντερο in vernacular and medical vocabulary to designate the digestive tube beginning from the stomach. There also is εντερο- as first compound, such as in εντεροπάθεια, εντερολογία etc.

Entry By

Le Feuvre