Etymologically
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φέγγος

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pʰéŋ.ɡos/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈɸeŋ.ɡos/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈfeŋ.ɡos/[1]

Forms

φέγγος (phéngos) n (genitive φέγγεος or φέγγους); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][1] It has often been compared with Lithuanian spingė́ti (“to glitter, give a weak light”), Old English spincan (“to spark”) and Old High German funko (“spark”), from an Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *(s)peng-, but Beekes and Wiktionary consider this impossible because of the initial stops, and Chantraine finds that all the details differ.[2][1][3] Prellwitz assumed an s-mobile, which still leaves the aspirate φ unexplained.[3] Frisk's idea that an expected *σπέγγος (*spéngos) was crossed with φάος (pháos, “light”) is rejected by Beekes as improbable.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest text in the GLAUx corpus that has it is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, where a radiance shines far from the goddess's immortal skin.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly a poetic word, though also found in Attic and later prose.[2] Pindar uses it for the radiance of valour and glory, and tragedy for the light of day, so that “to see the light” is to be alive, and Aeschylus also uses it for a day as a unit of time.[6][5] It is used of the light of the moon and stars, of torches and fires, and figuratively of a person or city that is a shining light; in Aristophanes and Xenophon it is a torch.[6] Plato uses it for the radiance of the Forms.[6]

The Septuagint uses it for the brightness of the glory of the Lord, and the New Testament for the light of the moon.[5][7] Modern Greek keeps it as a literary word, Modern Greek φέγγος (féngos), for light, especially the faint light of the moon and stars.[8]

Timeline

  • 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Demeter uses it for the radiance of a goddess.[4][5]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the radiance of valour and glory.[6][9]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the light of the sun and for a day.[5][6][9]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the radiance of the Forms.[6][9]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the light of the moon.[7]
  • Modern Greek – It is a literary word for light, especially moonlight and starlight.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Radiance, splendour, glow (of a god, of skin); (figurative) glory.[6][5]
  2. The light of day.[6][5] (by extension) A day.[6][5]
  3. The light of the moon or stars.[6][7]
  4. The light of a fire or torch, or a torch itself.[6] (figurative) A shining light, beacon.[6]
  5. The light of the eyes, sight.[6]

Word family

  • φέγγω (phéngō)
  • λαμπαδοφεγγέω (lampadophengéō)
  • φεγγαῖον (phengaîon)
  • φεγγίτης (phengítēs)
  • φεγγοβολέω (phengoboléō)
  • φάος (pháos)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b c 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge