Etymologically
Log in

μαίνομαι

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 01:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /mǎi̯.no.mai̯/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈmɛ.no.mɛ/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈme.no.me/[1]

Forms

μαίνομαι (maínomai) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *məňňómai,[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mn̥yétor (“to think”), a zero-grade present with a yod suffix from the root *men- (“to think, have in mind”).[2][1][3] The same present is found in Sanskrit मन्यते (mányate) and Avestan mainiieite “thinks”, Old Irish muinithir and Old Church Slavonic мьнѣти (mĭněti).[2][4][1] The aorist μανῆναι (manênai) matches the Balto-Slavic infinitives such as Lithuanian minė́ti, but it is post-Homeric and may have been formed in Greek after φαίνομαι (phaínomai) : φανῆναι (phanênai); the aorist μήνασθαι (mḗnasthai) and the perfect μέμηνα (mémēna) are also Greek formations.[2][4]

The verb belongs with μένος (ménos) and μέμονα (mémona), and probably with μιμνήσκω (mimnḗiskō).[2] Frisk notes that the new forms went with a change of meaning: in Greek the verb no longer meant “think” but “be out of one's mind, rage”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is used above all of martial rage: of Ares, of a warrior, of his hands or his spear raging in battle.[5][6] Homer uses only the present and imperfect.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the Homeric rage of battle and of anger the verb came to mean madness in general: to be crazy or out of one's mind, often with a sense of folly, in Herodotus, tragedy, comedy and the orators.[6][5] It was also the word for the god-sent frenzy of the followers of Dionysus, in Herodotus and Euripides' Bacchae, and for being mad with love, from Anacreon on.[6][7] Its derivatives include μανία (maníā) “madness” and μαινάς (mainás) “maenad”.[2]

In the New Testament it is said of Jesus that he has a demon and is mad, and Paul answers Festus that he is not mad but speaks sober truth: Spicq notes that this is the madness imputed to the preachers of a religion one rejects.[8][7] Medieval Greek kept the word, and in Modern Greek μαίνομαι (maínomai) is a learned word for being in a frenzy or raging.[9][10][11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of the war-god and of warriors raging in battle.[5][6]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis and Anacreon use it of madness and of being mad with love.[6][12]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus and Euripides use it of Bacchic frenzy.[6][7][12]
  • 1st century AD – In the New Testament it is said of Jesus and of Paul, “to be out of one's mind”.[7][8]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word, “to rage, be in a frenzy”.[10][11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rage, act with blind fury.[5][6]
  2. To rage in battle, with martial frenzy, of Ares, a warrior or his weapon.[6][5]
  3. To be possessed by a divine frenzy, especially of the followers of Dionysus.[6]
  4. To be mad, out of one's mind; to behave crazily, or in the aorist passive, to go mad.[6][7]
  5. (participle) Mad, crazy; as a noun, a madman or madwoman.[6]
  6. To be maddened by grief or suffering.[6]
  7. To be mad with love or desire.[6]

Word family

  • ἀπομαίνομαι (apomaínomai)
  • ἐκμαίνω (ekmaínō)
  • ἐμμαίνομαι (emmaínomai)
  • περιμαίνομαι (perimaínomai)
  • ὑπερμαίνομαι (hupermaínomai)
  • ὑπομαίνομαι (hupomaínomai)
  • ἀντιμαίνομαι (antimaínomai)
  • καταμαίνομαι (katamaínomai)
  • παραμαίνομαι (paramaínomai)
  • συμμαίνομαι (summaínomai)
  • μαινάς (mainás)
  • μαινόλης (mainólēs)
  • μανία (maníā)
  • μανιάς (maniás)
  • μανικός (manikós)
  • μεγαλομανής (megalomanḗs)
  • μένος (ménos)
  • μέμονα (mémona)
  • μάντις (mántis)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e 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
  8. ^ a b Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge