Etymologically
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ἀνεμώνη

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /a.ne.mɔ̌ː.nɛː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /a.neˈmo.ni/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /a.neˈmo.ni/[1]

Forms

ἀνεμώνη (anemṓnē) f (genitive ἀνεμώνης); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][3] Prellwitz derived it from ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind”), and Strömberg supported this, so that it would be a “wind flower”.[4][3] Etymonline explains the ending as the feminine patronymic suffix -ώνη (-ṓnē), “daughter of the wind”.[4][3][5] Beekes thinks a loanword more likely, perhaps from the substrate.[3]

A Semitic origin, from Biblical Hebrew נַעֲמָן (Naʿămān), a name of Adonis meaning “pleasantness”, was proposed by Lewy, but Frisk, Beekes and Rosół reject it.[6][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the comic poets Cratinus and Pherecrates, of the poppy anemone.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Theophrastus distinguishes a meadow anemone and a mountain anemone, and Dioscorides a cultivated and a wild kind; the Hippocratic writings use it as a medicine.[2] In the bucolic poets Theocritus and Bion the Doric form ἀνεμώνα is a flower of the countryside.[2][7] Hesychius adds that it was a kind of cake and a kiss, and calls anemone any plant that the winds quickly destroy.[8][2] Lucian calls empty, showy words the “anemones” of speech.[2]

Latin borrowed it as anemōnē.[1] Modern Greek ανεμώνη (anemóni) is a learned form for the flower and the sea anemone, beside the popular ανεμώνα.[9]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – Cratinus and Pherecrates name the poppy anemone.[2]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus describes meadow and mountain anemones.[2]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses the Doric form ἀνεμώνα.[2][7]
  • 1st century AD – Dioscorides distinguishes cultivated and wild anemones.[2]
  • 2nd century AD – Lucian calls showy words “the anemones of speech”.[2]
  • 1550s – English borrows anemone through French and Latin.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The anemone, especially the poppy anemone, Anemone coronaria.[2][7]
  2. Other species of anemone, such as the mountain anemone.[2][1]
  3. (figurative, in the plural) Showy but empty words.[2]
  4. A kind of cake; a kiss.[8][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
  7. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
  9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki