μαῖα

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /mâi̯.a/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈmɛ.a/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈme.a/^[1]

Forms

μαῖᾰ (maîa) f (genitive μαίᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a familiar word of address, formed from Ancient Greek μᾶ (mâ, “mother”), a nursery word, with the suffix -ya, after the model of γραῖα (graîa, “old woman”) beside γραῦς (graûs).^[2][3] The same stem is found in μήτηρ (mḗtēr) and μάμμη (mámmē).^[3][4][5]

It was borrowed as Latin maia (“midwife”).^[2] Philoxenus derived it from μαίομαι (maíomai, “to seek”), as the midwife who seeks what is hidden.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it is always in the vocative, as an affectionate address to an old woman, most often to Eurycleia, the nurse of Odysseus, but also to the housekeeper Eurynome.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and in Aristophanes it is still a respectful address to an older woman.^[5][7] Tragedy uses it of a foster-mother or nurse and once of a child's own mother, and Aeschylus calls on the Earth with it.^[5][7] In Attic it is also the midwife, the sense of Plato's Theaetetus, and in Doric the grandmother.^[5][3][2] Aristotle uses it for a large crab, and Oribasius for a plant.^[5][2]

As a proper name, Μαῖα (Maîa) is the mother of Hermes.^[2][3] The Roman goddess Maia was later identified with her.^[2] The word continues as Modern Greek μαία (méa), a learned form meaning a trained midwife.^[8][4]

Timeline

• Homer – The Odyssey uses it to address Eurycleia.^[5][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of the Earth as mother.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of a foster-mother and of a mother.^[5][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a midwife.^[5][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a large crab.^[5][9]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it of a woman doctor.^[5][9]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek μαία (méa) means a midwife.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (vocative) Mother, as an affectionate or respectful address to an older woman.^[5][7]
2. A nurse or foster-mother; also a child's mother.^[5][7]
3. A midwife.^[5][7]
4. A woman doctor.^[5]
5. (Doric) A grandmother.^[5]
6. A large kind of crab.^[5]
7. A plant, the same as λεπίδιον (lepídion).^[5]

Word family

• μαιεύομαι (maieúomai)

Related words

• Μαῖα (Maîa)
• Latin maia

References

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