ἔντομον

Forms

ἔντομον (éntomon) n (genitive ἐντόμου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἔντομος (éntomos, “cut in pieces”), the neuter used as a noun with ζῷον (zōîon, “animal”) understood.^[1][2][3] The adjective is formed from ἐν (en, “in”) and the stem of τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”), as in τομή (tomḗ, “a cut”).^[1][2][4]

Aristotle explained the name himself: he called insects the creatures that have notches, ἐντομαί (entomaí), on the body.^[5][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The neuter plural ἔντομα first appears in Herodotus, of sacrificial victims: the Persian Magi stopped a wind by offering victims.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The plural ἔντομα, the "cut" animals, were the victims offered to the dead or to heroes, as opposed to the ἱερεῖα sacrificed to the gods.^[5][3] The Suda says such animals were castrated, unlike the whole animals offered to the gods.^[6] Herodotus, Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes use it so.^[5][6]

Aristotle gave the word its zoological sense: the insects, a class of animals marked by the notches that divide their bodies.^[5][6][4] Later writers kept it, Artemidorus among them.^[6] Pliny translated it as Latin insectum, the source of the English word, and translations of Aristotle's term also make the word for "insect" in several other languages.^[4] French coined entomologie from the Greek in 1764, and English entomology followed.^[4] Modern Greek has the learned έντομο (éntomo), taken from the ancient plural.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the plural for victims offered in sacrifice.^[5][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the insects and explains the name by their notched bodies.^[5][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses the plural for sacrificial victims.^[6]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes speaks of victims from the flocks.^[5][6]
• 1st century AD – Pliny translates the term as Latin insectum.^[4]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Clement of Alexandria speaks of insect animals.^[6]
• 1764 – French coins entomologie from it, and English entomology follows.^[4]
• Modern Greek – The learned word έντομο (éntomo) means an insect.^[7][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (in the plural) Victims cut up in sacrifice, offered especially to the dead.^[5][6]
2. An insect.^[5][6][1]

Related words

• ἔντομος (éntomos)
• ἐντομή (entomḗ)
• τέμνω (témnō)
• τομή (tomḗ)
• Latin insectum
• English entomology
• English insect

Usage notes

Hesychius also glosses ἔντομοι as “sworn”, from oaths taken over the slaughtered animal.^[8][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 n Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)