σταγών

Forms

στᾰγών (stagṓn) f (genitive στᾰγόνος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek στάζω (stázō, “to drip”), which goes back to *στάγ-yω (*stág-yō), as τρυγών (trugṓn) stands beside τρύζω (trúzō).^[2][3] The rare plural στάγες (stáges) in Apollonius of Rhodes is a back-formation.^[4][2]

The verb has no certain etymology.^[4][2] It is often connected with Latin stāgnum (“pool”), but Beekes finds the meanings far apart, though the link remains possible.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are in Aeschylus, of drops of blood and of tears.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Tragedy used it of drops of blood, tears and water, and Euripides of drops of wine.^[3][5] In prose it is found from the Hippocratic corpus on, and later writers used it of drops of milk, oil and pitch.^[3][2][5] The Shepherd of Hermas uses it of a drop of water.^[7]

Medieval Greek kept the word.^[8] It survives as Modern Greek σταγόνα (stagóna), with the diminutive σταγονίτσα (stagonítsa).^[9][8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of drops of blood and of tears, and Euripides of water and wine.^[3][5][6]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of oil, with an irregular plural στάγες (stáges).^[5][4]
• 1st century BC – 1st century AD – Strabo uses it of drops of pitch.^[3]
• 2nd century AD – The Shepherd of Hermas uses it of a drop of water.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek σταγόνα (stagóna).^[9][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drop of liquid: of blood, tears, water, wine, milk, oil or pitch; often in the plural.^[3][5]

Related words

• ἁβροσταγής (habrostagḗs)
• ἀπόσταγμα (apóstagma)
• ἀπόσταξις (apóstaxis)
• ἀσταγής (astagḗs)
• ἐπίσταξις (epístaxis)
• κατασταγμός (katastagmós)
• κατάσταξις (katástaxis)
• παλαισταγὴς (palaistagḕs)
• στάγδην (stágdēn)
• σταγετός (stagetós)
• στάζω (stázō)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b 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 c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki