onomatopoeic
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
φίλος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
[phi]
Transliteration (Word)
philos
English translation (word)
friend
Transliteration (Etymon)
phi
English translation (etymon)
[sound]
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 794
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848
Quotation
Φίλος: Ἀπὸ τοῦ γινομένου κατὰ τὸ φιλεῖν ἤχου· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πίνω· ἀπὸ γὰρ συμποσίων εἰώθασιν οἱ φίλοι γίνεσθαι
Translation (En)
Philos "friend": from the sound produced by the kiss. Or from pinō "to drink", because friendship usually comes from drinking together
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, phi, p. 1811 (φίλος δὲ εἴρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ γινομένου κατὰ τὸ φιλεῖν ἤχου)
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
Comment
The word is assumed to go back to an onomatopoeic verb, φιλέω, lit. "to make [phi]", from which φίλος is then derived