γιγνώσκω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
γλῶσσα, οἷον γνῶσσα· διαγνω‹στ›ικὴ οὖσα τῶν κρυπτῶν ἰδιωμάτων· ἢ κλῶσσά τίς ἐστι· κλωθομένη γὰρ τὴν ἔναρθρον φωνὴν ἀποδίδωσι
Translation (En)
"Tongue" (glōssa), as if it were *gnōssa, because it is the one which "recognizes" (diagnōstikē) the hidden characteristics; or a *klōssa, as it were, because through spinning it renders the articulate voice
Parallels
Photius, Epistulae et Amphilochia 56 (γλῶσσα τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ λόγον σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως ὄργανον·); Theognostus, Canones sive De orthogrqphia 492 (Τὸ γλῶσσα γέγονεν οὕτως· ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀγδοήκοντα, ὀγδώκοντα, κατὰ κρᾶσιν τοῦ ο καὶ η εἰς ω μέγα, οὕτω καὶ παρὰ τὸ νοήσω, νώσω, καὶ ἐκ τούτου νῶσσα, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ γ γνῶσσα, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ν εἰς λ γλῶσσα); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 177 (γνῶσιν κομίζει γλῶσσα τῶν ἐν καρδίᾳ); Etym. Gudianum, gamma p. 314 (Γλῶσσα· παρὰ τὸ γνῶ γνῶ‹σ›σα καὶ γλῶσσα, ὡς διαγνωστικὴ οὖσα τῶν χυμῶν); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, gamma p. 315 (Γλῶσσα· παρὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὴν γνῶσιν τῶν νοστίμων καὶ ἀνόστων, ἤγουν τῶν βρωσίμων καὶ ποσίμων, ἡδέων καὶ πικρῶν, γλυκέων καὶ ἀγλύκων ; ibid. Γλῶσσα· τὸ φωνητικὸν ὄργανον παρὰ τὸ γνώσω γνῶσα καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ς γνῶσσα καὶ γλῶσσα, ἡ ὑπὸ γνῶσιν ἄγουσα τὰ ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ ; ibid. Γλῶσσα· τρέψας τὸ λ εἰς τὸ ν καὶ τὸ δεύτερον ς εἰς τὸ τ φημὶ οὕτως ἡ γνωστὰ ἐν τῷ νῷ τοῖς ἀκούουσι ποιοῦσα τὰ λεγόμενα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 235 (Γλῶσσα· παρὰ τὸ γνῶ γνώσω γνῶσα καὶ γλῶσσα, ἡ ὑπὸ γνῶσιν ἄγουσα τὰ ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ· ἢ δι’ ἧς τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς βουλεύματα γινώσκομεν).
This etymology may be implicit in Xenophon, Memorabilia 1, 4, 5 (τίς δ’ ἂν αἴσθησις ἦν γλυκέων καὶ δριμέων καὶ πάντων τῶν διὰ στόματος ἡδέων, εἰ μὴ γλῶττα τούτων γνώμων ἐνειργάσθη; "What perception should we have of sweet and bitter and all things pleasant to the palate had we no tongue in our mouth to discriminate between them?"); repeated in Plutarch, Mor. 990a5-6 (ἡ μὲν γὰρ γλῶττα τοῦ γλυκέος καὶ δριμέος καὶ αὐστηροῦ γνώμων ἐστί τε καὶ λέγεται "For the tongue is said to be, and is, a judge of what is sweet or bitter or sour")
Comment
This functional etymology has a weak formal basis. From the semantic point of view, it relies on the function of the tongue, which is both to distinguish different tastes (perception) and to produce speech, which is a means of knowing thought. The formulation is clearer in other sources, which imply various derivatives of γιγνώσκω (γνώμη, γνῶσις, γνωστός, διαγνωστικός) but amount to the same explanation (see Parallels). This etymology was apparently widely known in Antiquity