νοέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
γλῶσσα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
glōssa
English translation (word)
tongue
Transliteration (Etymon)
noeō
English translation (etymon)
to think
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Canones sive De orthographia 492
Ed.
J.A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 3, Oxford, 1836
Quotation
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
Translation (En)
The word glōssa "tongue" is formed in the following way: as from ogdoēkonta "80" comes ogdōkonta, through contraction of the [o] and the [ē] into [ō], similarly from noēsō "I will think" comes *nōsō, and from it *nōssa, and through adjunction of [g] *gnōssa, and through a change of [n] into [l] glōssa"
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, gamma p. 314 (τὸ δὲ γλῶσσα παρὰ τὸ γνῶ γνῶσσα καὶ γλῶσσα, ἡ τὰ τοῦ νοὸς εἰς φῶς φέρουσα· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ νοῶ)
Modern etymology
Γλῶσσα is derived from γλῶχες "beard of corn", and means etymologically "provided with a point". No Indo-European cognate is known
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology has a weak formal basis, even by Greek standards, its basis is above all semantic, and it provides a functional explanation, the tongue is designed to express what we think. This etymology is sometimes associated with the etymology relating it to γιγνώσκω (see γλῶσσα / γιγνώσκω).