μνάομαι
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /mná.o.mai̯/[1]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈmna.o.mɛ/[1]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈmna.o.me/[1]
Forms
μνάομαι (mnáomai) [1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mneh₂- (“to remind”), probably an extension of *men- (“to think, remember”).[2][3][1] Outside Greek the root is found mainly in Sanskrit, and Chantraine sets μνάομαι beside Sanskrit म्नायते (mnāyate, “is mentioned”).[3][2] Beekes thinks it was rather formed in Greek after the aorist μνήσασθαι (mnḗsasthai), and that the whole paradigm of μιμνήσκω (mimnḗskō) is a Greek creation.[2][1]
The sense “to woo” grew out of “to be mindful of” as a courteous expression, as Benveniste showed.[2] LSJ instead traced that sense to the root of γυνή (gunḗ), a link that Beekes rejects.[4][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Iliad it means to be mindful of or turn one's mind to something, such as war or flight.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
The sense “to woo a woman” appears in the Odyssey, not in the Iliad, of the suitors,[4] and Homer also uses it without an object, “to go wooing”.[4][5] Hesiod's fragments, the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite and Anacreon continue it.[5][6] After Homer it also means to seek or sue for something: Pindar uses it of seeking honour, Herodotus of seeking office or kingship.[4][5] The compound προμνάομαι (promnáomai) “to woo on another's behalf” is found in Sophocles, Plato and Xenophon.[2]
It belongs to epic, Ionic and late prose and occurs only once in comedy.[4] The Hellenistic poets revived the sense “to remember”, and Plutarch uses it of seeking a husband for one's daughter, a master, reconciliation and friendship.[5][4]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad uses it of being mindful of war and flight.[4][5]
- Homer – The Odyssey uses it of wooing a woman.[4][5]
- 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of seeking honour.[4][5][7]
- 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of seeking office and kingship.[4][5][7]
- 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius uses it of remembering.[4][5][7]
- 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of seeking a husband for a daughter and of seeking reconciliation.[5][7]
Meanings
Verb
- To be mindful of, think of, turn one's mind to something.[4][5]
- To recall, remember.[5][4]
- To woo or court a woman; without an object, to go wooing.[4][5]
- To seek a husband for one's daughter.[5]
- To seek eagerly, solicit office, power, honour or a favour.[4][5]
Word family
- ἀμνημονέω (amnēmonéō)
- ἀμνήμων (amnḗmōn)
- ἀμνηστέω (amnēstéō)
- ἀμνηστία (amnēstíā)
- μνῆμα (mnêma)
- μνημεῖον (mnēmeîon)
- μνήμη (mnḗmē)
- μνημονεύω (mnēmoneúō)
- μνημονικός (mnēmonikós)
- μνημοσύνη (mnēmosúnē)
- μνημόσυνον (mnēmósunon)
- μνήμων (mnḗmōn)
- μνησικακέω (mnēsikakéō)
- μνησικακία (mnēsikakía)
- μνηστήρ (mnēstḗr)
- προμνάομαι (promnáomai)
Related words
- μιμνήσκω (mimnḗskō)
- μέμονα (mémona)
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
- ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge