γυμνός Ancient Greek · revision 2209

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *nogʷnós}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɡym.nós/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ʝymˈnos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ʝymˈnos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''γυμνός''' (gumnós) ''m'' (feminine γυμνή, neuter γυμνόν); first/second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*gumnós]],^(Wiktionary) [[inh|ine-pro|*nogʷnós|t=naked]], an old inherited adjective.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) Its forms differ from language to language, partly through dissimilation and probably also through taboo distortion.^(Frisk 1960)^(Πάπυρος) The western languages have a dental suffix: Latin [[m|la|nūdus]], Old Irish [[m|sga|nocht]], Gothic [[m|got|𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌰𐌸𐍃|tr=naqaþs]] and English [[m|en|naked]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Etygram) Lithuanian [[m|lt|nuogas|alt=núogas]] and Old Church Slavonic [[m|cu|нагъ|tr=nagŭ]] have no suffix, while Sanskrit [[m|sa|नग्न|tr=nagná-]] has the same -no- suffix as Greek.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Hittite [[m|hit|nekumanza]] has a different vowel and was probably remodelled after the adjectives in -want-.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ The υ comes from *o after a nasal and before a labiovelar, as in [[νύξ|tr=núx]], and -μν- from *-gʷn-, as in [[ἀμνός|tr=amnós]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος) Wiktionary ascribes the υ to Cowgill's law, o > u between a labial and a resonant.^(Wiktionary) The initial γ- is the main difficulty: Kortlandt explained it as an assimilation of *noŋʷno- to *ŋoŋʷno-, the initial [ŋ] then being taken as /g/ because [ŋ] was not a phoneme of Greek;^(Beekes 2010) Wiktionary sees a metathesis, perhaps a taboo deformation.^(Wiktionary) Hesychius has [[λυμνός|tr=lumnós]], a dissimilated *νυμνός, and a Cypriot gloss that keeps the -γ-.^(Beekes 2010)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it both for “naked” and for “unarmed”: Odysseus comes naked out of the thicket in the ''Odyssey'', and in the ''Iliad'' Hector fears that Achilles will kill him unarmed.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) A bow taken out of its case is also “naked”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Often “naked” meant only lightly dressed, wearing the undergarment without the cloak: Hesiod tells the farmer to sow, plough and reap “naked”, and so it is used in Aristophanes and Plato.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)^(CGL 2021) Pindar has the “naked” foot race, as against the race in armour.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Herodotus uses it of nude statues,^(CGL 2021) and Thucydides calls the parts of a soldier not covered by armour, especially the right side, τὰ γυμνά.^(LSJ 1940) With a genitive it means stripped of something: Plato speaks of the soul “naked of the body”.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000) From the habit of exercising naked came [[γυμνάζω|tr=gumnázō]] and [[γυμνάσιον|tr=gumnásion]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ In later prose it is used of bare facts and plain words, in Diodorus and Lucian.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000) The Septuagint uses it of Adam and Eve, and the New Testament of the young man who fled naked in Mark and, figuratively, of everything lying bare before God and of the soul without its body.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ Medieval vernacular Greek had the forms ''γδυμνός'' and ''εγδυμνός'', and used the word for unarmed, barren, poor, deprived of something, and of a drawn sword.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek [[m|el|γυμνός|tr=gymnós]] means naked or scantily dressed, and also bare, as of a room; as a noun, το γυμνό is the nude in art.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it for naked and for unarmed.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for lightly dressed.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar mentions the naked foot race.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides calls the unprotected parts of soldiers τὰ γυμνά.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of the soul naked of the body.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century BC – Diodorus uses it of bare facts.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – Mark tells of a young man who fled naked.^(BDAG 2000)^(DGE)

+ * 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek has the form ''γδυμνός''.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|naked]], unclothed.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Lightly dressed, wearing only the undergarment.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # [[m|en|unarmed]], without armour; τὰ γυμνά, the parts not covered by armour.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Of things: bare, uncovered; of a bow, out of its case; of a sword, drawn.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # ''(with genitive)'' Stripped of, without.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Of a foot race: run naked, not in armour.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Of facts or words: bare, plain.^(LSJ 1940)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # Of a horse: without harness.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[γυμναστής|tr=gumnastḗs]]

+ * [[γυμναστικός|tr=gumnastikós]]

+ * [[γυμνάζω|tr=gumnázō]]

+ * [[γυμνάς|tr=gumnás]]

+ * [[γυμνασία|tr=gumnasíā]]

+ * [[γυμνάσιον|tr=gumnásion]]

+ * [[γυμνής|tr=gumnḗs]]

+ * [[γυμνικός|tr=gumnikós]]

+ * [[γυμνότης|tr=gumnótēs]]

+ * [[γυμνόω|tr=gumnóō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|nūdus]]

+ * [[en|gymnasium]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Byzantine etymologists derived γυμνός from [[κύπτω|tr=kúptō|t=to stoop]], because the naked bend forward to hide themselves.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}