πίνω

Validation

No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

φίλος

Transliteration (Word)

philos

English translation (word)

friend

Transliteration (Etymon)

pinō

English translation (etymon)

to drink

Author

Epimerismi homerici

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, phi 2

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2. Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995: 59-761.

Quotation

φίλος (Β 56): […] εἴρηται δὲ παρὰ τὸ πίνω· ἀπὸ γὰρ συμποσίων ⸤εἰώθασιν⸥ οἱ φίλοι γ⸤ίνεσθαι⸥.

Translation (En)

Philos "friend": so called from pinō "to drink", because friendship usually comes from dining together

Comment

Derivational etymology implying two formal manipulations (changes of the two consonants), and relying on the cultural practice of the symposion. The interesting element is that the friend is not the one who drinks, as the etymology says, but who drinks with someone: the reverb συν- is fundamental for meaning, yet it is not formally the etymon

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, phi, p. 553 (idem); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 2, 100 Van der Valk (κατὰ δέ τινας καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πίνειν ὁ φίλος); ibid., 4, 94 (καὶ ὅρα φιλίαν ταύτην ἐξ εἰλαπίνης καὶ ὁμιλίας συμποτικῆς, ἐξ ἧς ἔοικε δεδόσθαι ἀρχὴν τοῖς ἐκ πίνειν ἐτυμολογοῦσι τὸν φίλον); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1, 56 Stallbaum (Ὅτι τὸ, τοῖος ἐὼν οἷον αὐτὸν ἐνόησα οἴκῳ ἐν ἡμετέρῳ πίνοντά τε τερπόμενόν τε, ἀφορμή τις ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πίνειν τοὺς φίλους ἐτυμολογεῖν. καὶ ἀπὸ συμποσίου λέγειν κτᾶσθαι αὐτούς); Eustathius, Oratio 13.8 (καὶ ἄλλους δὲ ἐπιτραπεζίους, δι’ ὧν ἐδόκουν ὁ μάταιος κτᾶσθαι φίλους, οὐ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ πίνειν, ἀλλ’ ὁποίους τὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα τὸ θεῖον ἀποτελοῦσι συσσίτια; ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 794 (Φίλος: Ἀπὸ τοῦ γινομένου κατὰ τὸ φιλεῖν ἤχου· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πίνω· ἀπὸ γὰρ συμποσίων εἰώθασιν οἱ φίλοι γίνεσθαι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, phi, p. 1809 (Φίλος. παρὰ τὸ πίνω πίνος καὶ φίλος); Scholia in Oppinaum, Hal. 1.180 (φίλος δ’ ὁ ἐν συμποσίῳ παρὰ τὸ πίνω, πίνος καὶ φίλος); Tzetzes, Exegesis in Homeri Iliadem 1.344.9 (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)

Modern etymology

The older meaning is "one's own", preserved in Homer. May be related within Greek to σφι(ν) which provides the plural of the reflexive pronoun (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre