Μαγνησία

Forms

Μᾰγνησῐ́ᾱ (Magnēsíā) f (genitive Μᾰγνησῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic Μαγνησίη.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek Μάγνης (Mágnēs, “a Magnesian”) + -ία (-íā), “land of the Magnesians”.^[1][2][4] The people's name Μάγνης (Mágnēs), plural Μάγνητες (Mágnētes), is of uncertain origin and perhaps Pre-Greek.^[1][5] A Thessalian inscription of the 3rd century BC has the dative plural Μαγνείτεσσι (Magneítessi).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Simonides and then in Herodotus, of a coastal region of Thessaly, and Herodotus also uses it of the city of the Magnesians in Asia Minor.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Thessalian Magnesia was the coastal land from the Peneius to the Gulf of Pagasae, filled by Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion; its harbourless east coast wrecked the fleet of Xerxes in 480 BC.^[6] The Iliad already knows the Magnetes and their land, as the kingdom of Philoctetes.^[6] Magnesia on the Maeander was said to have been founded from Thessalian Magnesia, and another city, Magnesia in Lydia, was distinguished from it.^[6][7][8] The name of Magnesia in Asia Minor lives on in Turkish Manisa.^[1]

From the region came the name of the magnet: Euripides and Plato call it the “Magnesian stone”, Μαγνῆτις (Magnêtis) λίθος, and the Hippocratic writers say Μαγνησίη (Magnēsíē) λίθος.^[3][9] Theophrastus uses the same phrase for a silvery mineral, probably a kind of talc, and in the alchemists, from Zosimus on, lowercase μαγνησία names several ores and alloys.^[3] Through Medieval Latin magnēsia this became English magnesia in the late 14th century, an ingredient of the philosopher's stone in alchemy.^[5] Modern Greek μαγνησία (magnisía) is a learned word for compounds of magnesium, and Μαγνησία is still the name of the Thessalian regional unit.^[10][11][12]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Simonides names the Thessalian region.^[2][13]
• 480 BC – Xerxes' fleet is wrecked on the coast of Magnesia.^[6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the Thessalian region and of the city in Asia Minor.^[3][2][13]
• 5th century BC – Euripides calls the magnet the “Magnesian stone”.^[3][13]
• 3rd–4th century AD – Zosimus the alchemist uses the common noun μαγνησία (magnēsía) for ores and alloys.^[3][13]
• Late 14th century – English borrows magnesia from Medieval Latin.^[5]
• Modern Greek – Μαγνησία (Magnisía) names the regional unit of Thessaly, and the learned μαγνησία (magnisía) names magnesium compounds.^[11][12][10]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Magnesia, the coastal region of eastern Thessaly.^[2][11][6]
2. Magnesia on the Maeander, a city in Asia Minor.^[2][7][8]
3. Magnesia in Lydia, another city in Asia Minor.^[7][8][12]

Related words

• Μάγνης (Mágnēs)
• Μαγνῆτις (Magnêtis)
• Latin Magnēsia
• English magnet
• English magnesia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Smith, William, ed. (1854), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, London: Walton and Maberly
8. ^ a b c Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c Pleiades: a gazetteer of past places, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, https://pleiades.stoa.org
12. ^ a b c Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge