Etymologically
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γαστήρ

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ɡas.tɛ̌ːr/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ɣasˈtir/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ɣasˈtir/[1]

Forms

γᾰστήρ (gastḗr) f (genitive γᾰστέρος or γᾰστρός); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unclear.[2] It is often derived, with dissimilation of the first ⟨ρ⟩, from *grastḗr (“devourer”), an agent noun from Ancient Greek γράω (gráō, “to gnaw, eat”), matching Sanskrit ग्रस्तर् (grastar, “eclipser”), an astronomical term thought to mean “devourer”.[2][1][3][4] Frisk accepts this without doubt, and Babiniotis follows it.[3][5] Beekes finds the meaning far-fetched, since the belly is not an “eater”, and tentatively suggests *gn̥t-tēr, with ⟨tt⟩ becoming ⟨στ⟩, if γέντα (génta, “entrails”) is related.[2] Another view connects Hittite genzu (“entrails”) and posits *gm̥s-ter.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning the belly or paunch.[2][6] The Iliad also uses it of a woman's womb, and the Odyssey of the belly as the seat of hunger.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The belly craving food made the word an image of gluttony: Hesiod's Theogony uses it of gluttons, and the Epistle to Titus has “lazy bellies”.[7][8] The Odyssey and Aristophanes use it of a stuffed paunch, a kind of sausage, and Tyrtaeus of the bulge of a shield.[7][6] The New Testament has the phrase “to have in the womb”, of pregnancy.[8]

In Medieval Greek the accusative gave the popular Modern Greek γαστέρα (gastéra).[9][5] The ancient γάστρα (gástra), a pot with a bulging belly, became Modern Greek γλάστρα (glástra, “flowerpot”).[9][3] English uses the element gastro- (“stomach”), from its combining form.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the belly and the womb.[6][7]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it of gluttons.[7][4]
  • 7th century BC – Tyrtaeus uses it of the hollow of a shield.[6][4]
  • 5th century BC – Hippocratic writers use it for the belly in medicine.[6][4]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of conceiving “in the womb”.[8]
  • Medieval Greek – The accusative γαστέρα becomes the popular form.[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The belly, paunch, stomach, often as the seat of appetite.[6][7]
  2. (figurative) A glutton.[7][8]
  3. The womb.[6][7]
  4. A stuffed paunch, a kind of sausage.[7]
  5. The bulge or hollow of a shield; the wide part of a bottle.[6][7]

Word family

  • γαστρίδιον (gastrídion)
  • γαστρίζω (gastrízō)
  • γαστρίμαργος (gastrímargos)
  • γάστρις (gástris)
  • γαστροειδής (gastroeidḗs)
  • γαστρώδης (gastrṓdēs)
  • γάστρων (gástrōn)
  • ὁμογάστριος (homogástrios)
  • ὑπογάστριον (hupogástrion)
  • ὑπογαστρίς (hupogastrís)
  • γάστρα (gástrā)
  • γαστραία (gastraía)
  • γαστραφέτης (gastraphétēs)
  • γαστρίδουλος (gastrídoulos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  5. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com