ἱμάς

Forms

ῐ̔μᾱ́ς (himā́s) m (genitive ῐ̔μᾰ́ντος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a secondary formation in -ντ- from a lost noun *ἱμα (*hima, “rope”), which also underlies ἱμάω (himáō, “to draw up”) and ἱμαῖος (himaîos); an n-stem *ἱμων (*hīmōn) is continued in ἱμονιά (hīmoniā́, “well-rope”).^[2][1] That n-stem matches Old Norse sími (“rope”) and Old Saxon sīmo (“rope”) and, with a different meaning, Sanskrit सीमन् (sīmán-, “boundary, parting of the hair”), all from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂i-mon- (“rope”), from a root *sh₂i- (“to bind”); Irish sim (“chain”) has the same suffix.^[2][1] The verb “to bind” survives in Indo-Iranian, Baltic and Hittite, for example सिनाति (sinā́ti).^[2][3]

The first vowel is usually short but sometimes long in epic, and Beekes explains this from the root's shape, which gave a long vowel after metathesis to *sih₂m- and a short one without it, rather than from ablaut as Frisk thought.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Homer on, for a leather strap: in the Iliad the chin-strap of Paris's helmet, made of oxhide.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it covers many kinds of strap: the traces and reins of horses, the straps on which a chariot's body hung, the lash of a whip, the thongs wound round a boxer's hands, and the thong that shot the bolt of a door.^[3][4] In the Iliad it is also the embroidered band of Aphrodite, which carried the charms of love.^[3][4] After Homer it is used for the thong of a sandal, in Xenophon and the New Testament, where John the Baptist is not worthy to untie Jesus' sandal-strap, for a hound's leash, and for the whip used for flogging.^[3][4][6] In architecture the plural meant planks laid on rafters, and Galen uses it for a cord and for a disease of the uvula.^[3]

Modern Greek ιμάντας (imándas) is a learned word, taken from the accusative ἱμάντα, for a strap or a belt, also in machinery.^[7][8]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for straps of every kind, reins, a boxer's thongs and Aphrodite's band.^[3][4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for a boxer's thongs.^[3][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for the thong of a sandal.^[3][4]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for a whip.^[4][6]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use it for the strap of Jesus' sandal.^[6]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it for a cord and for a disease of the uvula.^[3]
• Modern Greek – ιμάντας (imándas) is a learned word for a strap or belt.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leather strap or thong, for binding or fastening.^[3][4]
2. (plural) The traces or reins of horses.^[3][4]
3. The thongs wound round a boxer's hands, a boxing-glove.^[3][4]
4. The magic band of Aphrodite, a love-charm.^[3][4]
5. The chin-strap of a helmet; the thong of a door-bolt.^[3][4]
6. The thong of a sandal.^[3][4][6]
7. A lash or whip for flogging; a leash for hounds.^[4][6]
8. (architecture, plural) Planks laid on the rafters.^[3]
9. (medicine) A diseased condition of the uvula.^[3]

Word family

• ἱμάντινος (himántinos)
• ἱμαντώδης (himantṓdēs)
• ἱμάσσω (himássō)
• ἱμαντάριον (himantárion)
• ἱμαντόδεσμος (himantódesmos)
• ἱμαντόπους (himantópous)

Related words

• ἱμαῖος (himaîos)
• ἱμανήθρη (himanḗthrē)
• ἱμονιά (hīmoniā́)
• κατιμονεύω (katimoneúō)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας