γόνυ

Forms

γόνῠ (gónu) n (genitive γόνᾰτος); third declension^[1] Epic and Ionic genitive γούνατος, epic γουνός, plural γούνατα, epic γοῦνα.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gónu (“knee”),^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu (“knee”), the Indo-European word for the knee.^[2][1][4] The stem ⟨*γονϝ-⟩ is seen in the genitive ⟨γόνατος⟩ and its epic and Ionic form ⟨γούνατος⟩, and in the epic genitive ⟨γουνός⟩.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit जानु (jā́nu), Hittite genu, Latin genū, Old Armenian ծունգք (cungkʻ), Gothic 𐌺𐌽𐌹𐌿 (kniu) and Old English cnēow.^[2][1] The forms differ in their vowel: /e/ in Latin and Hittite, a long vowel in Sanskrit, /o/ as in Greek in Tocharian, and the zero grade in the Germanic words and in Greek γνύξ (gnúx) “on bended knee”.^[5][6][7] Beekes also compares γωνία (gōnía) “corner” and ἰγνύη (ignúē) “hollow of the knee”.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the knees are the seat of strength and swiftness: to “loosen someone's knees” is to disable or kill him.^[9][3] They are also clasped in supplication, and the knees of a seated person are a lap; in the Homeric phrase “this lies on the knees of the gods” an outcome is left to the gods.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses the phrase “to bring down onto the knee”, meaning to humble or conquer, and Theocritus has the proverb “the knee is nearer than the shin”, that one's own come first.^[9] From Herodotus and Xenophon on it also names the joint of a grass or plant stalk.^[9][2] In the Septuagint and the New Testament to bend the knee is a sign of submission or respect.^[9][10]

The Hellenistic form γόνατον (gónaton) was made from the plural γόνατα, and it gave Modern Greek γόνατο (gónato) “knee”;^[11][8] the old form lives on in learned compounds such as γονυκλισία (gonyklisía) “genuflection”.^[8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the knee as the seat of strength and in supplication.^[9][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the joint of a plant stalk, and has “to bring down onto the knee”.^[9][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle quotes the proverb that the knee is nearer than the shin.^[9][7]
• Hellenistic period – The new form γόνατον appears, made from the plural.^[11][8]
• New Testament – Bending the knee is a sign of respect.^[10]
• Modern Greek – It is γόνατο.^[11][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The knee, of people or animals, as the seat of strength and speed.^[9][3]
2. The knees clasped in supplication, or before which one falls.^[3][9]
3. (plural) The knees of a seated person; the lap.^[3]
4. (botany) The joint or knot of a grass or plant stalk.^[9][2]

Related words

• γνύξ (gnúx)
• γωνία (gōnía)
• Latin genū
• English knee

Usage notes

The proverb “the knee is nearer than the shin”, in Theocritus and Aristotle, means that one's own interests come before others'.^[9]

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 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 d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b 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
11. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki