γυνή

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɡy.nɛ̌ː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ʝyˈni/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ʝyˈni/^[1]

Forms

γῠνή (gunḗ) f (genitive γῠναικός); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷənā, from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *gʷen- (“woman”), an old word kept in most Indo-European languages.^[1][2][3] Γυνή and Boeotian βανά (baná) have reduced vowels of different colour and match Sanskrit ग्ना (gnā́, “divine woman, goddess”) and Avestan gənā (gənā, “woman”).^[3] The unexplained oblique stem γυναικ- (gunaik-) corresponds to the Armenian plural Old Armenian կանայք (kanaykʿ, “women”).^[3] Wiktionary takes it as the strong stem with a suffix *-keh₂.^[3][1]

Cognate with Old Armenian կին (kin, “woman”) and Old English cwēn (“queen”).^[1] The Linear B word Mycenaean Greek ku-na-ja contains it.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it from the first book of the Iliad (1.348) for a woman, often with a word for “servant” or “mistress”, and as opposed to a man or a goddess.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its main senses from Homer on are woman and wife.^[5][1] It is part of many compounds, such as ἀνδρόγυνος (andrógunos).^[1]

Kriaras records the form γεναίκα from the 5th–6th century and γυναίκα in Byzantine sources.^[6] Γυναίκα is the Modern Greek word, and Tsakonian has γουναίκα.^[1] Modern Greek γυνή survives as a learned word.^[7] English gyno- comes from it.^[8][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a woman and a wife.^[4][5]
• 5th–6th century AD – The form γεναίκα is recorded.^[6]
• Byzantine – The form γυναίκα is in use.^[6]
• Modern Greek – γυναίκα means woman.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. A woman; a female.^[5][1]
2. A wife.^[1][5]

Word family

• ἀνδρόγυνος (andrógunos)
• γυναικεῖος (gunaikeîos)
• γυναικείως (gunaikeíōs)
• γυναικίζω (gunaikízō)
• γυναίκισις (gunaíkisis)
• γυναικισμός (gunaikismós)
• γυναικόβουλος (gunaikóboulos)
• γυναικοκρατέομαι (gunaikokratéomai)
• γυναικοκρατία (gunaikokratía)
• γυναικομανέω (gunaikomanéō)
• γυναικόμορφος (gunaikómorphos)
• γυναικονομία (gunaikonomía)
• γυναικονόμος (gunaikonómos)
• γυναικοπληθής (gunaikoplēthḗs)

Related words

• English queen
• English gyno-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com