πινυτός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• πνυτός (pnutós)

Etymology

The relation between the relevant forms has not been satisfactorily explained thus far. Older explanations take this word to have somehow developed out of a full grade form *penu-, with ε raised to ι, so as to connect the word with Latin putō (“to prune; esteem, consider”) and Proto-Slavic *pytati (“to ask, examine”), both from Proto-Indo-European *pew-. However, these attempts must be rejected for a number of reasons. First, a form *penu- is not attested; secondly, the change ε/ι is not systematic; third, the alternative form πνυτός (pnutós) is unexpected. The last variation is, however, known from Pre-Greek, and must reflect the varying rendering of a palatalized cluster. The etymon has nothing to do with πνέω (pnéō, “to breathe”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

πῐνῠτός • (pinutós) m (feminine πῐνῠτή, neuter πῐνῠτόν); first/second declension

1. prudent, discreet

Inflection

Derived terms

Further reading

• “πινυτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πινυτός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “πινυτός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• πινυτός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πινυτός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN