παρθένος

Forms

παρθένος (parthénos) f (genitive παρθένου); second declension^[1] Laconian παρσένος, Aeolic πάρθενος.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is conventionally inherited from Proto-Hellenic *parsteno-,^[1][4] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-stén-o-s (“with protruding breasts”), as Klingenschmitt proposed in 1974, from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn (“breast”) with *-rst- becoming ⟨ρθ⟩.^[4][1] The Laconian ⟨σ⟩ is the regular Laconian treatment of ⟨θ⟩.^[4] For the breast word Beekes compares Sanskrit स्तन (stána-) and Avestan fštāna- (“breast”).^[4] Van Beek calls this etymology a curiosity, since such a name would have been quite unsuitable, and prefers Hamp's Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥ǵʰ-wen- (“having height”), "the elevated one", which Babiniotis also cites.^[5][6]

Frisk and Chantraine consider the word isolated, and older proposals linked it with εὐθενέω (euthenéō, “to thrive”), πτόρθος (ptórthos, “sapling”), Latin virgō or Old Irish ainder (“young woman”).^[7][6] Etruscan 𐌚𐌀𐌓𐌈𐌀𐌍𐌀 (farθana) is usually explained as a loan from Greek.^[1]

Ancient grammarians had many derivations, for instance from a verb "to suckle", as the girl who has reached the age of her breasts.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on.^[4][10] In the Iliad it is a maiden, a young unmarried woman, and the word could be used of an unmarried mother.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word marked a social status rather than a biological one: an unmarried girl who had reached puberty, as opposed to γυνή (gunḗ), a married woman.^[3][11] Its range differs from κόρη (kórē), which stresses youth.^[12] In Sophocles and Euripides it is often "daughter", and it was the title of virgin goddesses, Athena at Athens and Artemis, while Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it for the Vestal Virgins.^[2][3] Like κόρη, it could also mean the pupil of the eye.^[12]

In the Septuagint it renders a young woman of marriageable age, and the Gospel of Matthew quotes Isaiah's prophecy of a virgin who will conceive, applying it to Mary.^[13][14] Christian Greek used it of chaste people of both sexes.^[14] Coptic borrowed it as ⲡⲁⲣⲑⲉⲛⲟⲥ (parthenos), first in a manuscript of about AD 350.^[15]

In Modern Greek παρθένος (parthénos) is a learned word: η Παρθένος is the Virgin Mary (a Hellenistic sense) and the constellation Virgo.^[16] As an adjective, "untouched, unspoilt", it follows French vierge and English virgin.^[16]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for a maiden and for an unmarried mother.^[2][3]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony has the phrase “maiden woman”.^[2][10][17]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus calls the Taurian goddess the Maiden, and Euripides gives the title to Artemis.^[2][3][17]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it for the Vestal Virgins.^[2][17]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels of Matthew and Luke call Mary a virgin.^[14]
• About AD 350 – The Coptic borrowing first appears in a dated manuscript.^[15]
• Modern Greek – It is a learned word for a virgin and the Virgin Mary.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. An unmarried girl, a maiden.^[2][3]
2. A virgin.^[2][14]
3. A daughter.^[3]
4. The Maiden, a title of virgin goddesses such as Athena and Artemis;^[2][3] (plural) maidens, of nymphs and Muses.^[2][3]
5. The pupil of the eye.^[12]
6. (New Testament) A chaste person, also a man.^[14]
7. (New Testament) The Virgin Mary.^[14]

Word family

• ἁβροπάρθενος (habropárthenos)
• ἀπάρθενος (apárthenos)
• εὐπάρθενος (eupárthenos)
• καλλιπάρθενος (kallipárthenos)
• παρθενεία (partheneía)
• παρθένεια (parthéneia)
• παρθένευμα (parthéneuma)
• παρθενεύω (partheneúō)
• παρθενία (parthenía)
• παρθενική (parthenikḗ)
• παρθενικός (parthenikós)
• παρθένιον (parthénion)
• παρθενόσφαγος (parthenósphagos)
• παρθενωπός (parthenōpós)

Related words

• English parthenogenesis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ van Beek, Lucien (2022), The Reflexes of Syllabic Liquids in Ancient Greek: Linguistic Prehistory of the Greek Dialects and Homeric Kunstsprache, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
8. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
9. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
14. ^ a b c d e f 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
15. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
16. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
17. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge