Etymologically
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λανθάνω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /lan.tʰá.nɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /lanˈθa.no/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /lanˈθa.no/[1]

Forms

λᾰνθᾰ́νω (lanthánō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to remain hidden”), with a dental extension.[2][1] The oldest forms of the system are the full-grade present λήθω (lḗthō), Doric λάθω (láthō), and the zero-grade aorists λαθεῖν (latheîn) and λελαθεῖν (lelatheîn); the nasal present λανθάνω, rarer than the full-grade present in Homer, is probably a later formation after μανθάνω (manthánō) : μαθεῖν (matheîn).[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead derives it from a nasal-infixed *lh₂-n-dʰ-.[1]

As in πύθω (púthō) beside πύον (púon), the -θ- may be a present suffix; a form without it seems to survive in the Hesychius gloss λῆτο (lêto, “forgot”).[2][3][4] The nearest cognate is Latin lateō (“to be hidden”), with a different suffix.[3][2][5] Related Greek words are λήθη (lḗthē, “forgetfulness”), λάθρα (láthra, “secretly”) and ἀληθής (alēthḗs, “true”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, at first mostly as λήθω: to escape notice, and in the middle to forget.[2][6] The Iliad already has the construction with a participle (to do something unnoticed), and the Odyssey has “it did not escape me, who know much” (9.281).[6][5]

Semantic evolution

The construction with a participle became one of the most characteristic idioms of Greek: “he escaped notice doing it” for “he did it without being seen”, and, with the person in the accusative, “it escaped the notice of”.[6][7] Herodotus and Aristophanes use it reflexively, “to fail to realise that one is doing something”.[6] The middle meant to forget, with a genitive.[6]

The New Testament uses it of being hidden and escaping notice.[8] Modern Greek has it as a learned word, Modern Greek λανθάνω (lantháno), to escape notice or to forget.[9] The chemical element lanthanum was named from it in 1841 because it lay “concealed” in the earth from which it was extracted.[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses λήθω, “to escape notice”, and the middle for forgetting.[6][2]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of failing to realise what one is doing.[6][11]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of what is hidden.[8]
  • 1841 – The element lanthanum is named from it.[10]
  • Modern Greek – λανθάνω survives as a learned word.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To escape notice, be unseen; with a participle, to do something without being noticed.[6][7]
  2. With a participle, to be unaware that one is doing something.[6]
  3. With an accusative, to escape the notice of someone; impersonally, it escapes someone.[6][7]
  4. (middle) To forget, with a genitive; to be forgetful.[6][2]

Word family

  • λήθη (lḗthē)
  • λάθρα (láthra)
  • λαθραῖος (lathraîos)
  • ἐπιλανθάνομαι (epilanthánomai)
  • ἄλαστος (álastos)
  • ἀλήθεια (alḗtheia)
  • ἀληθεύω (alētheúō)
  • ἀληθής (alēthḗs)
  • ἐπίληθος (epílēthos)
  • ἐπιλήθω (epilḗthō)
  • λαθίπονος (lathíponos)
  • λαθίφρων (lathíphrōn)
  • λάθος (láthos)
  • λάθρᾳ (láthrāi)
  • Latin lateō
  • English lanthanum

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 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 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
  4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  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 j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge