γένυς

Forms

γένῡ̆ς (génūs) f (genitive γένῠος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *génus, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénu- (“chin, jaw”), an old Indo-European name of a part of the face.^[1][2][3]

The u-stem has parallels in Old Irish giun (“mouth”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍃 (kinnus, “cheek”) and Tocharian A śanweṃ (“the two jaws”), and further in Old Armenian ծնաւտ (cnawt, “jaw, cheek”) and Sanskrit हनु (hánu, “jaw”), whose h- is unexplained.^[2][4][3] Latin gena (“cheek”) was reshaped after māla, but the u survives in genuīnus, used of the molars.^[2][4] The English word chin belongs here too.^[1] Beekes separates it from γνάθος (gnáthos, “jaw”).^[2]

Ancient grammarians explained it from κενός (kenós, “empty”), because the jaw is empty of bones below, or from γεννάω (gennáō, “to beget”), because it produces the teeth and the beard.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the plural is the two jaws, the mouth with the teeth; the Odyssey also uses the word for the cheeks covered with the first down.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Lyric and tragic poets use the word in the singular too, for the jaws of an animal or the cheek of a person, and Euripides has a kiss placed on the cheek.^[6][7] Aristophanes uses it for the throat of a bird, and Aristotle distinguishes the upper and the lower jaw.^[7][6]

By a metaphor it is the blade of an axe, and in Sophocles the axe itself.^[6][7] Later poets use it for the barb of a fishhook and the jaws of tongs.^[6] From it was formed γένειον (géneion), the chin or beard.^[2]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the plural for the jaws, the Odyssey for the cheeks.^[6][7][8]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses the singular.^[6][9]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for the blade of an axe and for the axe.^[6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a bird's throat, and Xenophon for a hare's lower jaw.^[7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle names the upper and the lower jaw.^[6][9]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it for the jaws of tongs.^[6][9]
• 2nd century AD – Oppian uses it for the barb of a fishhook.^[6][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The jaw or jaws; in the plural, both jaws, the mouth with the teeth.^[6][7]
2. The cheek, the side of the face.^[6][7]
3. The throat of a bird.^[7]
4. The blade of an axe; an axe.^[6][7]
5. The barb of a fishhook; the jaws of tongs.^[6]

Word family

• γένειον (géneion)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge