Greek word etymology thread

[Steph]

Aikido ain't no sport.

Did I say it is?

Let's try the rest of the familly

Wife : Delphine

Daugther : Elodie

Son: Aymeric

Can you find the Greek etymology of these names?

 

[Kyriakos]

Delphine is easy, it comes from Delphini (ancient form is Delphis), the greek word for dolphine.

The rest i have to look for, but Aymeric, intuitively at least, doesnt sound greek

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, i searched around and it seems that there is the ancient greek word Elodia (Ελωδί&#945 which means some sort of fragile flower, or all flowers which are fragile.

 

[Steph]

Delphine was easy. Aymeric was a trap, it's a germanic origine (halm rik, meaning the chief of the house, house in the meaning of "house of tudor" not building).

For Elodie, I've seen several origin. Germanic, Latin, Greek... So I'm wondering what you can find, as I don't know which one is correct.

 

[Kyriakos]

There is another, far less probable, and also a lot less refined case. Personally i doubt it is correct, but i shall name it.
There exists in greek the term "elos", ancient, but still in use, which means "swamp". Elodes (ελώδη&#962 is the adjective, and meaning related to a swamp. But i doubt people would use that as a name

 

[Steph]

Anything related to flower?

 

[Kyriakos]

Look at post 43

 

[Steph]

Sorry, crosspost, that's indeed the Etymology I knew

Thanks for confirming it.

 

[Takhisis]

If it's any help, the Spanish word for 'dolphine' is "delfín", which is pronounced almost the same as the French "Delphine".

 

[Steph]

Actually, in French we use "Dauphin" for the male and "Delphine" for the female (and Delphinarium for "aquarium for dolphin").

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Etymology is a folk game played by ancient pastoralists.

 

[Kyriakos]

Actually, in French we use "Dauphin" for the male and "Delphine" for the female (and Delphinarium for "aquarium for dolphin").

We have "delphinario" too, although it was a word made outside of Greece, such as gyroscope (i trust) also was. The great thing with greek words is that many of them were made by non greeks, mostly in the aeons of the western main nations antagonising over who is more cultured and powerfull.

But new greek words are made up all of the time, to name new scientific ideas/ machines etc

"Dephinario" btw is obviously made from one greek word (delphis) and one latin, since the greek term for aquarium is enhydrio, from hydor (water) and en (in).

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Not sure, but isnt Ivan formed out of Ioannes? Isnt it the same name as John?
At any rate i dont know the etymology of Ioannes, perhaps something to do with Io, a priestess of Hera.

No, it is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (transliterated as Yochanan), which means "YHVH is Gracious."

 

[Kyriakos]

Many of the students of jesus had utterly greek names (eg Peter, from Petra= Rock, which is why he is called "the rock of the church) so it seemed possible that Ioannes was something similar

 

[Takhisis]

Actually, in French we use "Dauphin" for the male and "Delphine" for the female (and Delphinarium for "aquarium for dolphin").

We have "delphinario" too, although it was a word made outside of Greece, such as gyroscope (i trust) also was. The great thing with greek words is that many of them were made by non greeks, mostly in the aeons of the western main nations antagonising over who is more cultured and powerfull.

But new greek words are made up all of the time, to name new scientific ideas/ machines etc

"Dephinario" btw is obviously made from one greek word (delphis) and one latin, since the greek term for aquarium is enhydrio, from hydor (water) and en (in).

'Delfinario' in Spanish, but they usually just call it 'acuario' (aquarium).

Many of the students of jesus had utterly greek names (eg Peter, from Petra= Rock, which is why he is called "the rock of the church) so it seemed possible that Ioannes was something similar

Yes, but 'Peter' is not his birth name.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It is not a name at all. It is a translation of his originally Aramaic nickname Cephas. I'm pretty sure none of them had Greek names, although some did have Greek nicknames.

One disciple was commonly called Didymus (twin), but that was a Greek translation of the Aramaic word T'oma (תאומ&#1488, which was more frequently just Hellenized as Thomas, not his actual name, Yehuda (rendered as Judah in English, or Judas in Greek).


Paul took a name meaning "small" in Greek, but that was just because it was a common rendering of the Hebrew name Saul.


John (well, Yochanan) was however a birth name.

 

[Kyriakos]

Some more spicy words:

Demon and Cacodemon. Demon is the greek term Daimon (Δαίμω&#957. Originally it didnt have a negative connotation, something which appears to have happened with the rise of christianity. Caco is the greek word for Evil. Thus a Cacodemon is an evil demon

Antagonist. Comes from the words Anti (against) and Agonistes (fighter). So it means someone who is fighting against another.

Melancholy. Comes from the words Melanon (black) and Chole (spleen). I read that it is argued that some ancient greeks attributed the emotion of melancholy to someone having a bad spleen, or something akeen to that.

Archetype. Comes from the words Arche (beginning; it also can mean 'the first' or even 'power') and typos (type). So it means some type which is innate, or at least existant from very early on.

Misanthropy. Comes from Misos (hatred) and Anthropos (human). So it means hatred of humans.

 

[Steph]

We have some French words, which are perfectly valid, but very few person know what they mean.

Like "poliorcétique", or "cynégétique". Both of Greek orgin.

 

[Kyriakos]

Great words Poliorcetique is from poliorketikos, which means "conquering". Ussually used with rams, as in poliorketikos krios.

Cynegetique is from kynegitikos, which means of the hunt

Btw i think that kynegetikos comes from kyn (dog; the term cynine comes from that) and hegoumai (to lead). So it means leading dogs (to the hunt) Hegoumai is of the same root as Hegemon, which i am pretty sure (but not certain) that comes from Hegoumai and Monos (alone) so Hegemon would be he would leads alone.

 

[Steph]

Great words Poliorcetique is from poliorketikos, which means "conquering". Ussually used with rams, as in poliorketikos krios.

It's not conquering. It comes from Polis + Herkos, meaning "closing the city", ie laying siege. "Poliorcétique" is the techniques of siege.

Cynegetique is from kynegitikos, which means of the hunt

Btw i think that kynegetikos comes from kyn (dog; the term cynine comes from that) and hegoumai (to lead). So it means leading dogs (to the hunt) Hegoumai is of the same root as Hegemon, which i am pretty sure (but not certain) that comes from Hegoumai and Monos (alone) so Hegemon would be he would leads alone.

You are righ "cynégétique" means related to hunt, an the origin is exactly what you said (leading dog).

French has a lot of greek roots, and many latin of course.