νάρκη

Forms

νάρκη (nárkē) f (genitive νάρκης); first declension^[1] A secondary nominative νάρκα is found in Menander and later writers.^[2]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: its structure does not look Indo-European, an Indo-European zero grade of the shape it would need should have given a different Greek form, and the secondary nominative νάρκα (nárka) also points to a non-Indo-European word.^[3]

The traditional explanation, given by Chantraine and Frisk, takes it as a verbal noun with the zero grade of the root and the accent on the stem, like πάθη (páthē) and βλάβη (blábē), formed from a primary verb that Greek has lost and replaced with ναρκάω (narkáō).^[4][2] That verb is compared with Germanic verbs meaning “to twist, knot, draw together”, Old High German sner(a)han and Middle High German snerhen, and with Old Norse snara (“to turn, twist”).^[2][3] Wiktionary gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *(s)nerk-, an extension of *(s)ner- (“to turn, twist”), shared with Proto-Germanic *snerhaną (“to twist, wind”).^[1] Beekes finds the link semantically unconvincing,^[3] and Wiktionary also thinks the meaning and shape of the Greek word make it unlikely.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the late 5th century BC, in the Hippocratic writings and in Aristophanes, meaning a numbness of the body.^[5][6] In Aristophanes' Wasps a numbness spreads over a man's hand.^[5] The derived verb ναρκάω (narkáō) is older, since it already appears in the Iliad.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medical and scientific prose the word named the numbness or deadness caused by palsy, cold or fright.^[5][4] Because its electric shocks numb anyone who touches it, the same word was given to the torpedo or electric ray.^[4][5] In Plato's Meno Socrates is compared to the flat sea torpedo, because he numbs those he talks with.^[5][7] Athenaeus and a magical papyrus speak of a “river torpedo”, the electric fish of the Nile.^[5]

The numbing word lies behind ναρκόω (narkóō) and its derivatives, through which English has narcotic.^[2][8] Modern Greek revived νάρκη (nárki) as a learned word for torpor, narcosis and the dormant state of some animals, partly after French narcose; after French torpille it also became the word for a naval or land mine.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use it for numbness of the body.^[5][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes describes numbness spreading over a hand, and Plato's Meno compares Socrates to the sea torpedo.^[5][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle writes about the torpedo, and comic poets such as Antiphanes and Anaxandrides name it as a dish.^[5]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus mentions the river torpedo of Egypt.^[5]
• Modern Greek – νάρκη (nárki) means torpor or narcosis and, after French torpille, a mine.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Numbness, deadness, caused by palsy, cold or fright.^[5][7][4]
2. The torpedo or electric ray, a fish that numbs whoever touches it.^[5][7]
3. The “river torpedo”, an electric fish of the Nile.^[5]

Word family

• ναρκάω (narkáō)
• ναρκόω (narkóō)
• ναρκώδης (narkṓdēs)
• νάρκωσις (nárkōsis)
• ναρκωτικός (narkōtikós)

Related words

• English narcotic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki