ἀδήν

Forms

ᾰ̓δήν (adḗn) f or m (genitive ᾰ̓δένος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][3] Since de Saussure it has been traced, like Latin inguen (“swelling; groin”), to Proto-Indo-European *n̥gʷén-, and compared with Old Norse økkr (“swelling”).^[3][4] Beekes objects that a laryngeal-initial *h₁n̥gʷ- would have given *ἐνδε- (*ende-) in Greek by Rix's law, so the Greek word cannot be cognate with the Germanic one; he leaves ἀδήν isolated and mentions Furnée's view that it is Pre-Greek, because of its ending ⟨-ην⟩.^[2] De Vaan derives it instead from Proto-Indo-European *n̥gʷḗn (“the naked one”), from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (“naked”), which keeps the link with the Latin word but not with the Germanic forms.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Hippocratic Corpus, meaning a gland; one treatise is devoted to the glands.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It remained a medical term, used by Galen and later physicians; in later Greek it was sometimes masculine.^[5][3][4] The Hippocratic writer explains that the glands draw off excess moisture from the rest of the body.^[4] Modern Greek αδένας (adénas) is a learned continuation of the ancient word, and the stem αδεν- forms medical terms.^[7] English adeno- “gland” comes from it.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Corpus uses it for a gland.^[5][4]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it, as a masculine.^[5][4]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius explains the plural.^[4]
• Modern Greek – αδένας (adénas) means a gland.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gland.^[5][4][3]

Related words

• Latin inguen
• English adeno-

References

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