ὑπονοστέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
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Ed.
Quotation
ὅθεν καὶ ἡ καταλαμβάνουσα τὸ ζῶον διάθεσις ὕπνος λέγεται, παρὰ τὸ τὰς φρένας ὑπονοστεῖν, ἤγουν ὑποχωρεῖν· ἐν τῷ ὑπνῷ γὰρ αἱ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου αἰσθήσεις ὑποχωροῦσι καθ’ ὃν εἴρηται τρόπον
Translation (En)
From where the state that seizes the animate being is called hupnos "sleep", from the fact that the spirit sinks (huponosteîn), that is, gives way. Because in sleep the human senses give way in the way described above.
Parallels
Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 18 (πόθεν ὕπνος; παρὰ τὸ τὰς φρένας ὑπονοστεῖν ἤτοι τὰς αἰσθήσεις); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 100 (Παρὰ τὸ ὕπνος· τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς ὕπο προθέσεως καὶ τοῦ νοῦς, ὃ γέγονεν ὑπόνοος, καὶ κατὰ συγκοπὴν ὕπνος. Ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ παρὰ τὸ ὑπονοστεῖν τὰς φρένας ἢ ὑποχωρεῖν· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ αἱ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου αἰσθήσεις ὑποχωροῦσιν); Etym. Gudianum, upsilon, p. 543 (Ὕπνος, ἐπὶ θανάτου σκία, παρὰ τὸ ὑπονοστεῖν ἤγουν ὑποχωρεῖν, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ αἱ αἰσθήσεις ὑποχωροῦσιν ἤτοι ἠρεμοῦσι); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 780 (Ὕπνος: Παρὰ τὸ ὑπονοστεῖν, ἤγουν ὑποχωρεῖν· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ αἱ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου αἰσθήσεις ὑποχωροῦσιν. Ἢ παρὰ τὴν ὑπὸ πρόθεσιν καὶ τὸ νοῦς νοὸς, ὑπόνοος· καὶ συγκοπῇ, ὕπνος· ἐν γὰρ τῷ ὕπνῳ αἱ φρένες καὶ ὁ νοῦς ὑποχωρεῖ. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοὺς πόνους, λύπονός τις ὤν· καὶ συγκοπῇ καὶ ἀφαιρέσει τοῦ λ, ὕπνος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, upsilon, p. 1769 (Ὕπνος. παρὰ τὸ ὑπονοστεῖν· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ αἱ αἰσθήσεις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑποχωροῦσιν); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 2.662 (ὕπνος παρὰ τὸ ὑπονοστεῖν καὶ ὑποστρέφειν τὰς εʹ αἰσθήσεις· ἐκ τοῦ ὑπνώττοντος ὑπόνοστος καὶ ὕπνος)
Comment
Descriptive etymology: sleep is a state in which the senses are not active. The fact that it is defined as a form of "recession" shows that it is perceived as a diminished state compared to the normal state of waking. The inflected nominative ὕπνος with its ending -s was the starting point and led to an etymon displaying the sequence [nos]: it is one of the many instances where an inflectional ending is part of the etymology. The word retains from the etymon the first three syllables ὑπονοσ-, which then undergo a syncope of the first [o]. The etymology relies on the acrophonic principle.