The word is parsed as a compound of ἄγαν, as many words starting with [aga], and αἰνέω "to tell, to praise". This etymology stems from the context in which the adjective is found in Homer: it is mostly used as an epithet of "words" (ἀγανοῖς ἐπέεσσι), so that a second element referring to speech (αἰνέω) was appropriate. The etymology implies a formal manipulation, which remains implicit, the loss of [i] in *ἀγαινός > ἀγανός