gena Latin · revision 6131

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Twelve Tables|origins=ine-pro *ǵénu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɛ.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒɛː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gena''' ''f'' (genitive genae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*genu-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ǵénu-|t=jaw]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|γένυς|tr=génus|t=jaw]], [[sa|हनु|tr=hánu|t=jaw]], [[cy|gen|t=cheek]], [[got|𐌺𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍃|tr=kinnus|t=cheek]] and [[en|chin]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan suggests it may first have been the same word as [[genū]] “knee”, meaning “curve”, as the adjective [[genuīnus]] “molar” suggests.^(de Vaan 2008) The original *genus became ''gena'' because it was feminine, and perhaps under the influence of [[māla]] “cheek”, or to avoid confusion with [[genus]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables, which forbid women to tear their cheeks in mourning.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates the Twelve Tables about 450 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) 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.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein says [[māla]] is the usual physiological word for cheek and ''gena'' an older and more poetic one.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was the cheek or cheekbone, often with tears.^(DMLBS) It survives in Romanian ''geană'' “eyelash”, and English ''gena'' is a learned borrowing.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables forbid women to tear their cheeks.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of pressing cheek to cheek.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of the eye.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the eyelid.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|cheek]], side of the face.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' The region of the eyes, the eyes.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An [[m|en|eyelid]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[genuīnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[genu]]

+ * [[māla]]

+ * [[en|chin]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}