ἔνδον

Forms

ἔνδον (éndon) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *éndon, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥dóm, an extended form of *h₁n̥dó, in Wiktionary's reconstruction.^[1] Beekes sets up *h₁endon (“inside”).^[2] The word is identical with Hittite andan (“within”), and close to Hittite anda and to Latin endo and indu-.^[2][3][4][5]

An older explanation took it as ἐν (en, “in”) with an endingless locative of the root noun for “house” found in δόμος (dómos) and δεσπότης (despótēs), that is “in the house”.^[2][4] Chantraine rejects this, since it fits neither the form nor the original meaning “inside”, and Beekes and Frisk point out that the genitive in Homer's “in the house of Zeus” can be elliptic.^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, meaning “within”, as of the brain spattered inside a helmet, and “at home”, as when a man does not find his wife at home.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Homer also uses it of what is inside a person: in the Odyssey the heart “barks within”.^[7][8] With a genitive it means “in the house of”, and Pindar uses it with the dative as a stronger “in”.^[7][8]

In Classical Greek “those within” were the members of a household, the servants above all, and “the things within” were household affairs.^[7] To be “within oneself” was to be in control of oneself, in Aeschylus, Antiphon and Euripides.^[7][8] Later writers used it for “below” in a book and, with verbs of motion, for “into”.^[7]

It continues in learned Modern Greek as ένδον (éndon).^[9][10] English took the combining form English endo- from it.^[11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for “within” and “at home”.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it with the dative, and Aeschylus for being in control of oneself.^[7][8]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it with the article for the members of a household.^[7]
• 3rd century AD – Diogenes Laertius uses it for “below” in a book.^[7]
• Modern Greek – It survives as the learned ένδον (éndon).^[9][10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Within, inside; inwardly, in one's heart.^[7][8]
2. At home, indoors; with the article, the members of the household or household affairs.^[7][8]
3. (with genitive) Inside; in the house of.^[7][8][6]
4. (with dative, Pindar) In.^[7][8]
5. Self-possessed, in control of oneself.^[7][8]
6. (late) Below, further on in a book; with verbs of motion, into.^[7]

Word family

• ἔνδοθεν (éndothen)
• ἔνδοθι (éndothi)
• ἐνδοτέρω (endotérō)
• ἐνδόμυχος (endómukhos)

Related words

• ἐν (en)
• ἐντός (entós)
• Latin endo
• English endo-

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com