ἄναξ
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἀναγκάζω· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄναξ ἄνακος, ἐξ οὗ τὸ ἄνακτος, γέγονεν ἀνάκη καὶ ἀνάγκη· καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπουδή σπουδάζω καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐγή αὐγάζω, οὕτως καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνάγκη ἀναγκάζω. οὕτως Ζηνόβιος
Translation (En)
Anankazō "to exert a constraint": from anax, *anakos "lord", from which is derived anaktos, comes *anakē and anankē "necessity, constraint"; and as from spoudē "zeal" is derived spoudazō and from augē "glow" augazō, so from anankē is derived anankazō. This is what Zenobius says.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 96 (idem); Herodian, Prosodia Catholica, Lentz III/1, p. 315 (ἡ δὲ φυλακή ἀπὸ τοῦ φυλάσσω καὶ ἰακή ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰάζω καὶ ὑλακή ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑλάσσω. τὸ δὲ ἀνάγκη εἰ ἦν ἀπὸ ῥήματος τοῦ ἀνάσσω ὀξύνοιτο ἂν ὡς στενάχω στεναχή); Herodian, Peri pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 283 (ἐρίγδουπος: πλεονάζει τὸ γ ὡς ἐν τῷ ἄγνοια, ἀνάγκη καὶ σύριγξ καὶ σάλπιγξ)
Comment
The word is analyzed as a derivative of ἄναξ, the primitive stem of which is supposed to be ἀνακ- (this is what is meant by the genitive *ἄνακος, from which the attested ἄνακτος is assumed to be derived). From this stem ἀνακ- is derived a feminine *ἀνάκη, which, through insertion of a nasal consonant, yields ἀνάγκη. The necessity is explained as the constraint exerted by a master. Herodian seems to have also accepted this derivation: he argues (see Parallels) against the derivation of ἀνἀγκη from the verb ἀνάσσω (see ἀνάγκη / ἀνάσσω), because in that case the word would be oxytone. That implies that he favours the derivation from a noun, namely ἄναξ, and he also assumes the insertion of γ ([n]).