κνήμη

Forms

κνήμη (knḗmē) f (genitive κνήμης); first declension^[1] Doric κνᾱ́μᾱ.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”), from a paradigm with the oblique stem *knh₂m-, which gave Doric κνάμα (knā́mā).^[2][1] Cognate with Old Irish cnáim (“bone”) and, with another grade, Old English hamm (“ham”), Old High German hamma and Old Norse hǫm.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for the lower leg, between knee and ankle, around which warriors fastened their greaves (κνημίς (knēmī́s)).^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is the ordinary word for the shin from Homer on, also of a horse's leg in Xenophon.^[5][3] Theocritus quotes the proverb “the shin is farther than the knee”, said of the closer bond of kin.^[3] In anatomy (Galen, Rufus) it is the tibia, in Theophrastus the stem of a plant between two joints, and in Pollux and Eustathius the spoke of a wheel.^[2][3]

Medieval Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek κνήμη (kními) is a learned continuation of it in Modern Greek.^[6][7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the lower leg.^[4][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for a horse's leg.^[3][5]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for the part of a stem between two joints.^[3][2]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for the tibia.^[3][2]
• Modern Greek – κνήμη (kními) is a learned word for the shin.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The part of the leg between knee and ankle, the shin, shank; also of a horse.^[3][5]
2. (anatomy) The tibia.^[3]
3. (botany) The stem between two joints.^[3][2]
4. The spoke of a wheel.^[3][2]

Word family

• ὀκτάκνημος (oktáknēmos)
• κνημίς (knēmī́s)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux