διδάσκω + καλῶς

Validation

Yes

Word-form

διδάσκαλος

Transliteration (Word)

didaskalos

English translation (word)

teacher

Transliteration (Etymon)

didaskō + kalōs

English translation (etymon)

to teach + beautifully

Author

Etym. Gudianum

Century

11 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Gudianum delta p. 361

Ed.

E. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum 1, Leipzig 1909

Quotation

Διδάσκαλος· παρὰ τὸ διδόναι τὸ καλόν, ὁ διδοὺς καλόν· ἢ ὁ διδάσκων καλῶς

Translation (En)

Teacher (didaskalos): from "to give" (didonai) that which is beautiful (kalon), he who gives the beautiful; or he who teaches (didaskōnbeautifully (kalōs)

Comment

The root is correctly identified but the suffix is not, and is identified with the adverb καλῶς. The word is treated as a compound with a structure verb + adverb, of which there is no instance in Greek, but the structure of compounds was not considered by Greek etymologists

Parallels

No parallel

Modern etymology

Derived from διδάσκω

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word still exists in Modern Greek only to denote erudite scolars, as in the phrase "διδάσκαλοι του Γένους", "the teachers of nation". The usual form is δάσκαλος "teacher" (Triandafyllidis, Dict. of Modern Greek)

Entry By

Le Feuvre