μανία
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
μῆνις
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
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
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)
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
Comment
This etymology starts from the first aorist ἔμηνα of the active mainō "to make mad" – that point remains implicit – 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]