Etymologically
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σταγών

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /sta.ɡɔ̌ːn/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /staˈɣon/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /staˈɣon/[1]

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]
  • 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