ἀ- + ποινή
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Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
ἄποινα: οἱ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φόνος ἄφονος; πλεονασμῷ ἄφοινος καὶ ἄποινος. οἱ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ποινή, ἡ τιμωρία, γίνεται ἄποινος. ἢ ἐκ τοῦ φονή, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν τόπον τῶν ἀναιρουμένων, ‘ἄνδρας ἀσπαίροντας ἐν ἀργαλέῃσι φονῇσι’ (Κ 521)
Translation (En)
Apoina "ransom": some say it comes from phonos "murder", through adjunction of [i], *aphoinos, and apoinos "murder-free"; others say that from poinē "punishment" comes *apoinos "without punishment"; or from phonē "carnage", which refers to the place where the dead are lying, ‘and his men in the shambles of slaughter gasping their lives out’ (transl. Lattimore)
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 170 (Ἄποινα <Β 230>· οἱ μέν, ἐκ τοῦ φόνος ἄφονος καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ι ἄφοινος <ἄποινος καὶ ἄποινα>, ἄφοινά τινα ὄντα τὰ ὑπεξαιροῦντα τοῦ φονικοῦ· οἱ δέ, ἐκ τοῦ ποινή, ἡ τιμωρία, γίνεται ἄποινος, ἢ ἐκ τοῦ φονή, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν τόπον τῶν ἀναιρουμένων); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 148 (φόνος καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν ἄφονος, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ι ἄφοινος καὶ τὸ οὐδέτερον τὸ ἄφοινον, καὶ <τροπῇ τοῦ φ εἰς π> ἄποινον, τουτέστι τὰ ὑπεξαιρούμενα τοῦ φονικοῦ ἐγκλήματος. ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ποινή γίνεται ἄποινος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 252 (Ἄποινα. τὰ δῶρα καὶ τὰ λύτρα τὰ ὑπὲρ φόνου διδόμενα. ἔστιν οὖν φόνος, καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν ἄφονος, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ι ἄφοινος, καὶ τὸ οὐδέτερον ἄφοινον καὶ ἄποινον, τουτέστι τὰ ὑπεξαιρούμενα τοῦ φονικοῦ ἐγκλήματος. [ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ποινὴ, ἡ τιμωρία, γίνεται ἄποινος καὶ ἄποινον]); Geneva scholion Il. 1.13quat. (ἄποινα γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ ποινή, τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ φόνος)
Bibliography
On the meaning and etymology of ἄποινα, see C. Le Feuvre, “Νήποινος, νηποινεί, ἀνάποινος, ἄποινα, and ποινή”, Glotta 97, 2021, pp. 107–157. The meaning "ransom" in Homer is secondary, the original meaning is "blood money", and the word is a compound of ποινή
Comment
Compositional etymology which correctly relates ἄποινα with ποινή. The former is understood as a privative of the latter, "without punishment". It implies no formal manipulation and is formally straightforward. It is also semantically straightforward if ἄποινα means "blood price" and not "ransom" as it does in Homer. This etymology was less repeated than the competing one by φόνος (see ἄποινα / ἀ- + φόνος)