μαίνομαι

Word

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Tue, 10/18/2022 - 11:10

Word-form

μῆνις

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

mēnis

English translation (word)

wrath

Transliteration (Etymon)

mania

English translation (etymon)

madness

Author

Apion

Century

1 AD

Reference

fr. 74, 1

Edition

S. Neitzel, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Dionysios Thrax. Die Fragmente der Grammatiker Tyrannion und Diokles. Apions Glossai Homerikai, Berlin, 1977

Source

Apollonius Sophista

Ref.

Lexicon homericum, 112, 24

Ed.

I. Bekker, Apollonii Sophistae lexicon Homericum, Berlin, 1833

Quotation

μῆνις. ὁ μὲν Ἀπίων μάνις· οἱ γὰρ ὀργιζόμενοί πως μαίνονται

Translation (En)

Mēnis "wrath": Apion writes manis "madness", because those who are angry are in a way mad (mainontai)

Comment

This etymology starts from the first aorist ἔμηνα of the active mainō "to make s.o. mad" (see Etym. Parvum) as wrath makes you mad. It seeks support in a Doric form mānis, which has the same [a] as mainomai "I am mad", mania "madness", and on the regular alternation between [ā] and [ă], yielding in Ionic an alternation between [ē] and [ă].

Parallels

Hesychius, Lexicon, mu 1225 (Ἀπίων, 
μάνης· οἱ γὰρ ὀργιζόμενοι μαίνονται); Etym. Parvum, mu 32 (Μηνιεῖ· ἀπὸ τοῦ μαίνω τὸ ὀργίζομαι,
 οὗ ὁ μέλλων μανῶ, ὁ δεύτερος ἀό
ριστος ἔμανον καὶ ἔμηνα· ἐκ τούτου μῆνις, μηνίω); Epimerismi homerici ad Il. 1.1 (Ἢ μάνις τις οὖσα παρὰ τὴν μανίαν γέγονε μῆνις· ἐοίκασι γὰρ τοῖς μαινομένοις οἱ ὀργιζόμενοι); Etym. Gudianum, mu, p. 391, 50 (Μῆνις, μάνις τίς ἐστι· παρὰ τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ τὴν μανίαν· ἐοίκασι γὰρ μαινομένοις οἱ ὀργιζόμενοι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐμμένειν τῷ μηνιῶντι καὶ ὀργιζομένῳ); Scholia in Sophoclem, Aj. 41a (scholia recentiora) (χόλος, θυμός, μῆνις, ὀργὴ διαφέρει. χόλος μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ χέεσθαι ὅλος (leg. ὅλως) ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ χολή· μῆνις παρὰ τὸ μαίνω, τὸ ὀργίζομαι· κότος παρὰ τὸ κεῖσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ· θυμὸς δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ θύω, τὸ ὁρμῶ)

Modern etymology

Unclear. See the various attempts in Beekes, EDG. The most likely etymology is a dissimilation from *mneh2-ni-, from root *mneh2- "to remember" (C. Watkins, BSL 1972)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is still used in Modern Greek with the meaning 'wrath', but only in accusative singular and in formal speech (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek)

Entry By

Le Feuvre
View PDF