δύνω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
γυνή
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
gunē
English translation (word)
woman
Transliteration (Etymon)
dunō
English translation (etymon)
to sink, to dive into
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, gamma p. 326
Ed.
E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920
Quotation
Γυνή· δυνή τις οὖσα, παρὰ τὸ δύνειν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον σπέρμα, τροπῇ τοῦ δ εἰς γ· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκ μελῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς γενέσθαι.
Translation (En)
Gunē "woman" : as a *dunē, from the fact that the male semen dives (dunein) into her, by changing the [d] into [g]; or from the fact that it was born from the man's limbs.
Parallels
No parallel
Modern etymology
Γυνή is the old Indo-European word for "woman", found for instance in Slavic žena and in English queen (Beekes, EDG).
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word is used in MG only in phrases such as "πυρ γυνή και θάλασσα" ("fire, woman and sea"). The usual form is "γυναίκα" (woman; plural: "γυναίκες"), the old Accusative singular (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology, relying on a phonetic manipulation (modification of a consonant) of a common type, starts from the present stem δύνω, from which its takes the [n]. This explanation is found here only