γάμος Ancient Greek · revision 2262

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=grc γαμέω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɣa.mos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈɣa.mos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''γᾰ́μος''' (gámos) ''m'' (genitive γᾰ́μου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Beekes and Frisk regard it as a back-formation from the verb [[m|grc|γαμέω|tr=gaméō|t=to marry]];^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) the DGE allows the reverse, and Wiktionary derives the verb from the noun.^(DGE)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The verb has no cognates outside Greek.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Its connection with [[γέντο|tr=génto]] and [[γέμω|tr=gémō]] is uncertain, and it is probably related to [[γαμβρός|tr=gambrós]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Beekes gives the root as [[ine-pro|*ǵem-|t=to marry]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Ancient grammarians derived it from [[δαμάζω|tr=damázō]] “to tame”, after Homer's use of that verb for wedded women, from “two together”, or from [[γεννάω|tr=gennáō]] “to beget”.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it for the arranging of a marriage, for the wedding and its feast (“weddings and banquets”), and for wedlock itself.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Tragedy often uses the plural for a single marriage, and Sophocles uses it by metonymy for the bride.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) It could also mean a sexual union outside marriage: the union of Heaven and Earth (Aeschylus), rape by a god (Euripides), and in Demosthenes' sneer at “daytime marriages”, prostitution.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Plato speaks of “sacred marriages” in the ''Republic'', and papyri of the 2nd century AD distinguish marriage by written contract from marriage by oral agreement.^(DGE)

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+ In the New Testament it is the wedding feast of the parable in Matthew 22 and the wedding of John 2, and the Letter to the Hebrews says that marriage is to be honoured by all.^(BDAG 2000)^(DGE) Medieval Greek kept both the ceremony and the union, and [[el|γάμος|tr=gámos]] is also one of the seven sacraments of the Church.^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

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+ [[en|monogamy]] and [[en|polygamy]] come through Late Latin from Greek compounds of the word, and [[en|bigamy]] is a Latin–Greek hybrid.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – marriage, wedding, wedding feast.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses the plural for a single marriage.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato writes of “sacred marriages”.^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Demosthenes speaks of “daytime marriages”, meaning prostitution.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – the New Testament: wedding feasts; marriage held in honour.^(BDAG 2000)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century AD – papyri distinguish written and unwritten marriages.^(DGE)

+ * Modern Greek – γάμος, also a sacrament of the Church.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|marriage|alt=Marriage]], the contracting or state of marriage; in poetry often plural for singular.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A [[m|en|wedding]], or ''(plural)'' wedding celebrations.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(euphemistic)'' A sexual union outside marriage: rape by a god or, in Demosthenes, prostitution.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(metonymy, Sophocles)'' The [[m|en|bride]].^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[γαμέω|tr=gaméō]]

+ * [[γαμικός|tr=gamikós]]

+ * [[μονογαμία|tr=monogamíā]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[γαμβρός|tr=gambrós]]

+ * [[γαμέτης|tr=gamétēs]]

+ * [[γαμήλιος|tr=gamḗlios]]

+ * [[en|polygamy]]

+ * [[en|monogamy]]

+ * [[en|bigamy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ As a name, Gamos is a month at Epidaurus in inscriptions of the 4th century BC and, in Nonnus, a son of Eros.^(DGE)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}