ἐγκατέχω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἔγκατα, παρὰ τὸ ἔνδοθεν κατέχειν τὴν τροφήν
Translation (En)
Enkata "entrails": from the fact that they contain (katekhein) food inside (endothen)
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 394 (Ἔγκατα· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκατέχειν τὴν τροφήν· λέγει δὲ τὸ ἧπαρ καὶ τὸν σπλῆνα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν πλεύμονα. ἔντερον δὲ οὐκ ἔγκατον· τὸ δὲ ἔντερον οἷον ἕτερον καὶ οὐχ ὅμοιον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 310 (Ἔγκατα: Τὰ ἔντερα· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκατέχειν τὴν τροφήν· λέγει δὲ τὸ ἧπαρ, καὶ τὸν σπλῆνα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν πνεύμονα. Ἔντερον δὲ, οὐκ ἔγκατον. Τὸ δὲ ἔντερον, οἷον ἕτερον καὶ οὐχ ὅμοιον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐντὸς κεῖσθαι τῶν μελῶν); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 27 Baldi (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p. 603 (idem).
The etymology may be implicit in Hesychius' Fragmenta in Psalmos, Psalm 108, l. 96: ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἔγκατα οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν κατέχει τροφήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν μὲν δέχεται, νῦν δὲ ἐκβάλλει ("since the entrails do not contain food itself, but now receive it, now expels it"). That seems to rely on the etymology formulated explicitly in Choeroboscus, to which Hesychius brings a correction, namely that they are supposed to contain food but in fact they do not. If so, the etymology can be traced back to the 5th c. AD.
Bibliography
On the etymological and semantic study, see J.-L. Perpillou and Ch. de Lamberterie, Revue de Philologie 72, 1998, 247-257.
Comment
The word is derived from ἐγκατέχω "to contain within", here decomposed as ἔνδοθεν κατέχω. This may be considered a functional etymology, as the function of the digestive organs is to process food. That implies that ἔγκατα applies properly to stomach and intestines and that the use for other internal organs is secondary, by extension.