nitь

νέω 2

Grammatical information: v.

Meaning: `spin'.

Other forms: 3. sg. νῃ̃ (νῆ, νεῖ; Hes. Op. 777), 3. pl. νῶσι (Ael., Poll.), ipf. ἔννη (Aeol.; Hdn., EM), inf. νῆν, ptc. νῶντα (H.), νώμενος (Poll.); besides νήθω (Cratin., Pl., LXX); aor. νῆσαι, - ασθαι (since η 198); νῶσαι (Eup. 319; ptc.pl. f.?; Meineke νῆσαι), pass. νηθῆναι and fut. νήσω (Att.), perf. midd. νένησμαι (late).

Compounds: Rarely w. ἐπι-, δια-, συν-, κατα-.

Derivatives: νῆμα n. `tectile fabric, thread' (Od.) with νηματ-ικός `consisting of threads' (Ath. Mech.), - ώδης `fibrous' (Plu.); νῆσις f. `spinning' (Pl.); νῆτρον n. `distaff' (Suid.); νήθουσα f. plantname s.s.v.

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [973] * sneh₁- `spin'

Etymology: On the dental enlargement in νή-θω cf. κνή-θω (: κνῆ-ν), πλή-θω (: πλῆ-το) a.o. (Schwyzer 703). -- From ἔ-ννη and ἐΰ-ννητος `well spun' (Hom.) appears an orig. sn-, which is also seen in MIr. snīid `spinns, restores' and perh. in Lat. nē-re `spin'; an s-less form is however ascertained a.o. by German., e.g. OHG nā-en `sew'. Monosyllabic νῃ̃ can stand for *σνηι-ει and can be compared directly with Skt. snāy-ati `winds around, clothes' and with Lat. neō \< * snēi-ō (on the stem s. below). Like ἔ-ννη from * e-snē can νῆ also be athematic (Schwyzer 675). But νῶσι, νῶντα, νώμενος are rather thematic from *νη-ουσι, *νή-οντα, *νη-όμενος than with old ō-ablaut, which however occurs frequently outside Greek, e.g. in Latv. snāju, snāt `wind together loosely, e.g. spinning' and in several nouns like OIr. snāthe `thread', OGutn. snōÞ `cord' = OE snōd `headband' (OHG snuor ' Schnur' is polyinterpret.). Beside IE snē-: snō- there are, esp. in Balto-Slav., forms with ī-vowel, e.g. Russ. nitь `thread'; for νῃ̃ \< *σνηι-ει, snāyati (beside snāy-u- `band, sinew'), Lat. neō, remains beside the explanation as yotpresent also an old longdiphthong to be sonsidered [improbable]. -- With νῆμα agrees Lat. nēmen n. `phantom', which is however a young formation; OCS snopь `sheaf, band', compared by Specht KZ 68, 123 is far away. Also the genetically identical νῆσις and OHG nāt ' Naht' are rather parallel innovations. -- WP. 2, 694f., Pok. 973, W.-Hofmann s. neō, Vasmer s. nítь, Fraenkel Wb. s. nýtis; everywhere further forms and rich literature.

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