ἕνος

Forms

ἕνος (hénos) m (feminine ἕνη, neuter ἕνον); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *hénos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”), the common Indo-European word for “old”, used above all in contrast to “new”.^[1][2][3]

Cognate with Old Armenian հին (hin), Sanskrit सन (sána), Lithuanian sẽnas, Old Irish sen, Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (sineigs, “elder”) and Latin senex (“old man”).^[2][1][4] Old Norse sina (“withered grass of last year”) is close to the Greek use for last year's growth.^[2][3] In Latin the sense “aged” prevailed, while in Greek this sense passed to the family of γέρων (gérōn).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first occurrence is in Hesiod's Works and Days, where the feminine ἕνη names a day at the turn of the month.^[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

The word survived only in fixed expressions: last year's fruit or officials, and above all ἕνη καὶ νέα, “the old and the new (moon)”, the last day of the month, which closed one lunar month and opened the next, a phrase found in Attic from Solon on.^[2][3][6] Plato explains that the light about the moon is always both new and old.^[5] Demosthenes and Aristotle speak of last year's magistrates and generals, and Theophrastus of last year's fruit.^[5] The lexicographers glossed it as “former” or “old”.^[5][7]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Works and Days uses the feminine for a day at the turn of the month.^[5][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes and Lysias use ἕνη καὶ νέα for the last day of the month, and Plato plays on the old and new light of the moon.^[5][6]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes and Aristotle speak of last year's officials.^[5][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it of last year's fruit.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to the former of two periods; of officials and offices, last year's.^[5][6]
2. Of fruit, last year's.^[5]
3. Generally, old, bygone.^[5]
4. ἕνη καὶ νέα (with σελήνη understood): “old and new”, the last day of the month.^[6][5][2]

Noun

1. (feminine) The first day of the month.^[6]

Related words

• Latin senex

Usage notes

Manuscripts often write it without the rough breathing, as ἔνος, but Attic inscriptions have ἕνος.^[5][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 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Harpocration, Lexicon in decem oratores Atticos, ed. Wilhelm Dindorf (Oxford, 1853)