διαβήτης

Forms

δῐᾰβήτης (diabḗtēs) m (genitive δῐᾰβήτου); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek διαβαίνω (diabaínō, “to stand with the legs apart”) + -της (-tēs, “agent suffix”), named after the outstretched legs of the instrument.^[2][3][1] Beekes takes the sense of the verb to be “spread the legs”.^[2] Beekes explains the later sense “siphon” by its similar shape.^[2] The name of the disease is explained in two ways: Etymonline takes it as “a passer-through, siphon”, and Triantafyllidis from the legs held apart by a patient who urinates often.^[4][5]

The grammarian Philoxenus derived it from an assumed simple verb “to walk” and its future.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristophanes uses it in the Clouds and the Birds for a pair of compasses.^[3][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Building inscriptions of the 4th century BC from Athens, Mytilene and Oropos use it for a mason's level or rule, against which stone was dressed straight.^[9][3] Columella and Hero use it for a siphon, a vessel with a tube through which liquid rises above its level and flows out.^[9][3] The Suda also has it for the gnomon of a sundial.^[9]

The physicians of the 2nd century AD, Aretaeus and Galen, use it for the disease diabetes, with its excessive discharge of urine.^[9][3][10] The English word diabetes (1560s) comes from it through medical Latin.^[4]

Its continuant, Modern Greek διαβήτης (diavítis), keeps both senses, the compass and the disease, as learned words; its derivative διαβητικός (1890) renders French diabétique.^[5][10]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a pair of compasses.^[3][7][9]
• 4th century BC – Building inscriptions use it for a mason's level.^[9][3]
• 1st century AD – Columella and Hero use it for a siphon.^[9][8]
• 2nd century AD – Aretaeus and Galen use it for the disease diabetes.^[9][3]
• 10th century AD – The Suda uses it for the gnomon of a sundial.^[9]
• 1560s – English borrows diabetes through medical Latin.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pair of compasses.^[3][7][9]
2. A carpenter's or mason's rule or level.^[3][9]
3. (mechanics) A siphon, or its tube.^[3][9]
4. The gnomon of a sundial.^[9]
5. (medicine) The disease diabetes.^[3][9]

Related words

• διαβαίνω (diabaínō)
• βαίνω (baínō)
• Latin diabetes
• English diabetes

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας