gena

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɛ.na]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒɛː.na]^[1]

Forms

gena f (genitive genae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *genu-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénu- (“jaw”).^[2][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Sanskrit हनु (hánu, “jaw”), Welsh gen (“cheek”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍃 (kinnus, “cheek”) and English chin.^[2][3][4] De Vaan suggests it may first have been the same word as genū “knee”, meaning “curve”, as the adjective genuīnus “molar” suggests.^[2] The original *genus became gena because it was feminine, and perhaps under the influence of māla “cheek”, or to avoid confusion with genus.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables, which forbid women to tear their cheeks in mourning.^[2][3] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables about 450 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was usually plural, genae, the cheeks, the side of the face, often marked by beard or wrinkles as a sign of age, as in Ennius, and the corresponding part in animals, as the jaws of a lion.^[3][6] In poetry the plural meant the region of the eyes, the eyes, as the burnt-out eye of Polyphemus in Propertius, and in Pliny the Elder and Tacitus an eyelid.^[3] Döderlein says māla is the usual physiological word for cheek and gena an older and more poetic one.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was the cheek or cheekbone, often with tears.^[8] It survives in Romanian geană “eyelash”, and English gena is a learned borrowing.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables forbid women to tear their cheeks.^[3][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of pressing cheek to cheek.^[3][5]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of the eye.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the eyelid.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The cheek, side of the face.^[3]
2. (plural) The region of the eyes, the eyes.^[3]
3. An eyelid.^[3]

Word family

• genuīnus

Related words

• genu
• māla
• English chin

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press