ὑμήν
Greek has two words spelled ὑμήν: a medical word for a membrane, and the cry raised at weddings.[1][2]
ὑμήν1 membrane
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /hy.mɛ̌ːn/[3]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /yˈmin/[3]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /yˈmin/[3]
Forms
ῠ̔μήν (humḗn) m (genitive ῠ̔μένος); third declension[3]
Etymology
The membrane is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sjuH-mn̥ (“thread, sinew”), an old technical word isolated in Greek.[1][4][2] Apart from the length of its υ, it matches Sanskrit स्यूमन् (syū́man-, “band, strap, suture”).[1][4][3] The root is that of the verb “to sew”: Latin suō, Lithuanian siū́ti, Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (siujan), and Greek κασσύω (kassúō, “to stitch together”).[1][2][4] A Hittite word once compared means “rush” and is unrelated.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first texts with the word are medical: the Hippocratic writings use it for a thin skin or membrane in the body.[5][1]
Semantic evolution
Aristotle uses it of the membranes around the brain and heart, the bowels and the foetus, of the nictitating membrane of birds and of the wings of insects.[6] Theophrastus applies it to the capsule of seeds in plants.[6] Later writers use it for a thin plate of metal and, in the Letter of Aristeas and Josephus, for parchment.[6] Galen, Soranus and Pollux name particular membranes, such as the pericardium and the peritoneum.[6]
Modern Greek υμένας (iménas) is a learned anatomical word.[7][8]
Timeline
- 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use it for membranes of the body.[5][9]
- 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the membranes of the brain and heart and of insects' wings.[6][9]
- 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for the seed capsule of plants.[6][9]
- 1st century AD – Josephus uses it for parchment.[6]
- 2nd century AD – Galen and Pollux name the membranes of the eye and the pericardium.[6][9]
- Modern Greek – Modern Greek υμένας (iménas) is a learned term of anatomy.[7]
Meanings
Noun
- A thin skin, membrane or caul, as around the brain, heart, bowels or foetus.[6][10]
- A sinew of fish; the nictitating membrane of birds; the wing of insects.[6][1]
- The capsule or seed vessel of plants.[6]
- A thin plate of metal.[6]
- Parchment.[6]
Word family
- ὑμένιον (huménion)
- ὑμένινος (huméninos)
- ὑμενόπτερος (humenópteros)
ὑμήν2 wedding cry
Pronunciation
- 5th-century BC Attic: /hy.mɛ̌ːn/[3]
- 4th-century AD Koine: /yˈmin/[3]
- 10th-century Byzantine: /yˈmin/[3]
Forms
ὑμήν (humḗn) m (vocative ὑμέν); the u is short or long.[1][2]
Etymology
The wedding cry is of disputed origin.[1][2] Muth took it for a ritual cry of non-Indo-European origin, and Beekes labels it possibly Pre-Greek, as Furnée did, though without further argument.[1][4] Frisk, following Lamer, holds it to be the same word as the membrane, in the sense of the maidenhead, first used as a teasing popular cry.[4][1][2] Maas and Boisacq kept the two apart, because the medical sense “maidenhead” is attested only in late physicians, and Boisacq compared ὕμνος (húmnos, “hymn”).[2][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The cry is first found in Euripides, as in “Hymen, O Hymenaios, lord” in the Trojan Women; the related ὑμέναιος (hūménaios, “wedding song”) is older, found in the Iliad.[1][2]
Semantic evolution
It is usually joined with ὑμέναιος (hūménaios), and like it came to name the god of marriage, Hymen.[1][2] Aristophanes and Theocritus use it in wedding songs.[2] Sappho has the Aeolic form ὑμήναος (humḗnaos), and Callimachus a vocative ὑμέν.[1][2] The verb ὑμεναιόω (humenaióō) meant to strike up the wedding song (Aeschylus) and to marry (Aristophanes).[1][2]
Timeline
- Homer – The Iliad has the related ὑμέναιος (hūménaios), the wedding song.[2][1]
- 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses the Aeolic ὑμήναος (humḗnaos).[1][2][9]
- 5th century BC – Euripides uses the cry and names the god Hymen.[2][9]
- 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes has the cry in the Peace and the Birds.[2][9]
- 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it in his wedding song for Helen.[2][9]
Meanings
Noun
Word family
- ὑμέναιος (hūménaios)
- ὑμεναιόω (humenaióō)
Related words
- Modern Greek υμένας (iménas)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
- ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
- ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press