petso

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `husband, spouse, consort' (ep. poet. Il.; cf. Chantraine REGr. 59--60, 219ff.).

Origin: IE [Indo-European] [842] * potis `lord (of the house), husband'

Etymology: Old and widespread designation of the lord of the house and the husband: Skt. páti-, Av. paiti- `lord, ruler, husband', Balt., e.g. Lith. pàts (older patìs) `husband', Toch. A pats, B petso (obl.) `husband', Lat. potis `capable, powerful'; IE *póti-s. The word is often used as 2. member of a compound or with a gen., e.g. δεσπότης (s. v.), Skt. viś-páti- `lord of the house', Lith. vieš-pats `Lord-(god)' (cf. on οἶκος), Lat. hos-pes `guest(friend)', Slav., e.g. Russ. gos-pódь `Lord, god', Goth. bruÞ-faÞs `bridegroom'. -- The meaning `lord, husband' is generally explained from a older meaning `self' in Lith. pàts (and in Av. * xvae-paiti-) as in the identifying and endorsing particle Lith. pàt `self, even', Hitt. - pat (- pit, -pe) `thus, also, even'; s. the rich lit. in Fraenkel Wb. s. v., further Benveniste Word 10, 260 ff.; this interpretation ist however with extensive and convincing criticism rejected by Szemerényi Syncope in Greek and I.-Eur. 337 ff. -- To be rejected Weisweiler Paideuma 3, 112 ff. (IE *pótis from Sumerian); s. Mayrhofer s. pátiḥ. -- Cf. πότνια, also Ποσειδῶν.

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