- ἠΐθεος
- ἠΐθεοςGrammatical information: m.Meaning: `unmarried youth' (Il.; s. Leumann Hom. Wörter 305 and 316f.), rarely also `unmarried young woman' (Eup. 332), in this meaning also ἠϊθέη (Nic., AP).Other forms: also ᾔθεος (or ἠΐθεος?; B. 16, E. Ph. 945; ᾄθεος Cerc. 9, 11, s. below)Compounds: No compp. or derivv.Origin: IE [Indo-European] [1127] *h₁uidʰeu- `unmarried'Etymology: Old and poetic word, already by Benfey (s. Bechtel Lex.) connected with Skt. vidhávā, Slav., e. g. Russ. vdová, Germ., e. g. Goth. widuwo, Lat. vidua, IE *u̯idhéu̯ā `widow' (unjustified doubt in Wackernagel Festgabe Kaegi 44 n. 1 = Kl. Schr. 472 n. 1). To *u̯idhéu̯ā , a masculine expression for `widowed, unmarried' was made, Lat. viduus, Russ. etc. vdóvyi,. perhaps first in the separate languages. Cf. W.-Hofmann s. viduus; with Sommer Münch. Stud. 11, 20 n. 32. So ἠΐθεος presupposes a feminine, which was replaced by χήρα. - Anlaut. ἠ- is easily explained as metrical lengthening of a prothetic ἐ- from *h₁- (cf. Bq s. v., after de Saussure Mélanges Graux 740ff.; ἀ- in Cerc. is a hyperdorism (ἠΐθεος Sapph. 44, 18). Rececently Beekes ZVS = HS 105 (1992) 171-6.Page in Frisk: 1,625-626
Greek-English etymological dictionary (Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά ετυμολογική λεξικό). Robert S.P.. 2010.