λα- + χαίνω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λακάνη
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
lekanē
English translation (word)
dish
Transliteration (Etymon)
la- + khainō
English translation (etymon)
much + to gape
Century
10 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Suda, lambda 46
Ed.
A. Adler, Suidae lexicon, 4 vols. [Lexicographi Graeci 1.1-1.4. Leipzig: Teubner, 1.1:1928; 1.2:1931; 1.3:1933; 1.4:1935]
Quotation
Λακάνη: τὸ μὲν κοινὸν λακάνη· παρὰ τὸ λα ἐπιτατικὸν καὶ τὸ χαίνειν· πλατὺ γάρ· τὸ δὲ Ἀττικὸν λεκάνη
Translation (En)
Lakanē "dish": the common form is lakanē, from the intensive la- "much" and khainein "to gape", because it is wide. The Attic form is lekanē
Parallels
Suda, lambda 230 (idem); Scholia in Aristophanem, Av. 1142 (vetera) (τὸ μὲν κοινὸν λακάνη παρὰ τὸ λα ἐπιτατικὸν καὶ τὸ χαίνω, τὸ δὲ Ἀττικὸν λεκάνη)
Modern etymology
Belongs with λέκος "dish". No clear etymology (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has λεκάνη as a technical archaeological word referring to the type of dish
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional descriptive etymology: the dish indeed has a wider opening than a cup or a jug.