γῆ + ἐρευνάω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
γέρανος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
geranos
English translation (word)
crane
Transliteration (Etymon)
gē + ereunaō
English translation (etymon)
earth + to search
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, gamma p. 41
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820
Quotation
Γέρανος, γήρευνός τις ἐστί· ἀπὸ τοῦ τὰ τῆς γῆς ἐρευνᾶν σπέρματα
Translation (En)
Geranos "crane" is an ‘earth-searcher’ (*gēreunos), as it were, from the fact that it searches (ereunān) the seeds of the earth (gēs)
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 94 (ὁ τὰ τῆς γῆς ἐρευνῶν σπέρματα); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, gamma 12; Etym. Gudianum, gamma p. 306 (Γέρανος· γήρευνός τις ὤν, ὁ τὰ τῆς γῆς ἐρευνῶν σπέρματα, ὅστις καὶ σπερμολόγος καλεῖται· ὅτε γὰρ ὁ γεωργὸς σπείρει καὶ οὐ χωννύει αὐτά, ἐκεῖνος συλλέγων ἐσθίει, καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἐκλήθη σπερμολόγος. ἔχει δὲ καὶ βραχὺ τὸ α. ἔστι δὲ εἰδικὸν τὸ γέρανος); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 387 (Γέρανος δὲ παρὰ τὸ τὴν γῆν ἐρευνᾶν)
Modern etymology
Γέρανος is the inherited Indo-European word for "crane", cognate with Engl. crane, Gaul. tri-garanos "with three cranes" and Lat. grūs (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word is still used in Modern Greek as the name of the bird and as the name of the machine
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Descriptive etymology. The word is parsed as a head-final N-V compound of the ἀνδροφόνος type. That implies further modifications of the vowels, which are not commented upon