ἔτης + ἁρμόζω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἑταῖρος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
hetairos
English translation (word)
comrade, companion
Transliteration (Etymon)
etēs + harmozō
English translation (etymon)
clansman + to adapt
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Exegesis in Homeri Iliadem 1.345
Ed.
M. Papathomopoulos, Ἐξήγησις Ἰωάννου Γραμματικοῦ τοῦ Τζέτζου εἰς τὴν Ὁμήρου Ἰλιάδα, Athens: Academy of Athens, 2007
Quotation
Διαφέρει φίλος, ἑταῖρος καὶ ξένος· φίλος μὲν γὰρ ὁ συγγενὴς λέγεται παρὰ τὸ πίνω, ἑταῖρος δὲ ὁ συμπολίτης παρὰ τὸ ἔτης, ὁ πολίτης, καὶ τὸ ἀρῶ, τὸ ἁρμόζω, ξένος δὲ ὁ ἀπεξενωμένος τῆς χώρας καὶ μακρόθεν ὤν
Translation (En)
There is a difference between philos "friend", hetairos "companion" and xenos "host". Philos, the relative, comes from pinō "to drink", hetairos, the one from the same city, from etēs "citizen" and arô, which means "to adapt" (harmozō), xenos "host" is the one who has become a stranger to his country and is far away
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Probably derived from the reflexive pronoun *swe-, related within Greek with ϝέτης "relative, friend" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has εταίρος as a learned word meaning "member" of a company, as well as the derivative εταιρεία "company, society"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology parsing the word as "adapted, fit citizen" (if the verb is intransitive), rather than "who adapts citizens" (if the verb is taken as active). The verb *'ἀρῶ is a ghost-form for the sake of the etymology. The idea is that ἑταῖρος "companion" is somehow "adapted" to someone because friendship relies on affinities. The relationship with ἔτης is correct for modern linguists, but not the analysis of the word as a compound.