εὐνή

See also: ευνή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Compare Old Irish úam (“cave, hole, an animal's lair”), Avestan 𐬎𐬥𐬁 (unā, “hole, slit in the earth”).^[1] Others wanted to relate it to Old Armenian ունիմ (unim, “to have, own”).

Van Beek suggests a derivation from an older adjective, Proto-Indo-European *(H)yew-mn-o- (“secluded, private”).^[2] He further points to a separate origin for the sense 'anchor-stones', referencing a proposal by Szemerényi to connect it with a Semitic word for 'stone', perhaps Phoenician 𐤀𐤁𐤍 (ʾbn, “stone”).

Has also been suggested as related to Proto-Celtic *wentā (“place, town”), from a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European root *h₁wen-.^[3]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /eu̯.nɛ̌ː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ewˈne̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈβni/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈvni/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈvni/

Noun

εὐνή • (eunḗ) f (genitive εὐνῆς); first declension

bed
bedding
abode, layer
marriage bed
grave
(in the plural) stones thrown from a ship and used as anchors

Inflection

First declension of ἡ εὐνή; τῆς εὐνῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ εὐνή hē eunḗ	τὼ εὐνᾱ́ tṑ eunā́	αἱ εὐναί hai eunaí
Genitive	τῆς εὐνῆς tês eunês	τοῖν εὐναῖν toîn eunaîn	τῶν εὐνῶν / εὐνῆφι tôn eunôn / eunêphi
Dative	τῇ εὐνῇ têi eunêi	τοῖν εὐναῖν toîn eunaîn	ταῖς εὐναῖς taîs eunaîs
Accusative	τὴν εὐνήν tḕn eunḗn	τὼ εὐνᾱ́ tṑ eunā́	τᾱ̀ς εὐνᾱ́ς tā̀s eunā́s
Vocative	εὐνή eunḗ	εὐνᾱ́ eunā́	εὐναί eunaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Epic also has εὐνῆφι (ν) for the genitive singular and plural.

Derived terms

εὐνάζω (eunázō)
εὐνάω (eunáō)
εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos)
χαμεύνη (khameúnē)

Descendants

Greek: ευνή (evní)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “εὐνή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 481
^ van Beek, Lucien (2019) “A look into the Indo-European Bedroom: Vedic yóni- and Greek εὐνή”, in Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics, volume 132, →JSTOR, pages 4-34
^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*wentā”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 413

“εὐνή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“εὐνή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“εὐνή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
εὐνή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
εὐνή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- bed idem, page 68.
- couch idem, page 176.
- marriage idem, page 514.
- marriage bed idem, page 514.
- wedlock idem, page 972.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “εὐνή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 481

[Van_Beek_2019-2] van Beek, Lucien (2019) “A look into the Indo-European Bedroom: Vedic yóni- and Greek εὐνή”, in Historische Sprachforschung/Historical Linguistics, volume 132, →JSTOR, pages 4-34

[Matasovic-3] Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*wentā”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 413

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