Talk:Anaximander

Possible deeper etymology? Perhaps -- ἄναξι (lord / master) + -μα (neuter nominal suffix) + ἁνδρός (man, gen. sg.)

= ruler of man ?

Someone with better knowledge of Ancient Greek care to comment? Ruxda (talk) 23:34, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

-μα is the result of things that happen to consonants at the ends of words. Thus, the -ος ending of the genitive produces -ματος. If your theory were correct, the expected form would be *Anaximatander. Besides, -μα (-ma) is really a nominalizing suffix- you wouldn't add it to a noun, which is already nominal. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:04, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

I should add that ἄναξ (ánax) is quite plausible as a first element, but the rest is what I find questionable. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:15, 23 February 2013 (UTC)