διαβήτης

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 10 April 2022

Etymology

From δῐᾰβαίνω (dĭăbaínō, “to step across, pass over”) +‎ -της (-tēs, “-er, -or”, agent noun suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /di.a.bɛ̌ː.tɛːs/ → /ði.aˈβi.tis/ → /ði.aˈvi.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /di.a.bɛ̌ː.tɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /di.aˈbe̝.te̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ði.aˈβi.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ði.aˈvi.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ði.aˈvi.tis/

Noun

δῐᾰβήτης • (dĭăbḗtēs) m (genitive δῐᾰβήτου); first declension

1. pair of compasses (so called from its outstretched legs)
   • 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 178:

     Κατὰ τῆς τραπέζης καταπάσας λεπτὴν τέφραν, κάμψας ὀβελίσκον, εἶτα διαβήτην λαβών, ἐκ τῆς παλαίστρας θοἰμάτιον ὑφείλετο.

     Katà tês trapézēs katapásas leptḕn téphran, kámpsas obelískon, eîta diabḗtēn labṓn, ek tês palaístras thoimátion hupheíleto.

     He sprinkled fine ashes on the table, and bent a little spit, and then took it as a pair of compasses and filched a cloak from the Palaestra.

   1. carpenter's or stonemason's ruler
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 56b:

        Κανόνι γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τόρνῳ χρῆται καὶ διαβήτῃ καὶ στάθμῃ καί τινι προσαγωγίῳ κεκομψευμένῳ.

        Kanóni gàr oîmai kaì tórnōi khrêtai kaì diabḗtēi kaì státhmēi kaí tini prosagōgíōi kekompseuménōi.

        For the artisan uses a rule, I imagine, a lathe, compasses, a chalk-line, and an ingenious instrument called a vice.

2. siphon
   • 10 CE – 70 CE, Hero, Pneumatica 1.29
3. (pathology) diabetes
   • 1 CE – 100 CE, Aretaeus, De Causis et Signis Diuturnorum Morborum 2.2:

     Θώϋμα τὸ διαβήτεω πάθος, οὐ κάρτα ξύνηθες ἀνθρώποισι· σαρκῶν καὶ μελέων ἐς οὖρον ἡ ξύντηξις· ὑγρὴ καὶ ψυχρὴ, ὅκως ἐν ὕδρωψι, αἰτίη.

     Thṓüma tò diabḗteō páthos, ou kárta xúnēthes anthrṓpoisi; sarkôn kaì meléōn es oûron hē xúntēxis; hugrḕ kaì psukhrḕ, hókōs en húdrōpsi, aitíē.

     Diabetes is a remarkable disorder, and not one very common to man. It consists of a moist and cold wasting of the flesh and limbs into urine, from a cause similar to that of dropsy.

Inflection

First declension of ὁ δῐᾰβήτης; τοῦ δῐᾰβήτου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δῐᾰβήτης ho dĭăbḗtēs	τὼ δῐᾰβήτᾱ tṑ dĭăbḗtā	οἱ δῐᾰβῆται hoi dĭăbêtai
Genitive	τοῦ δῐᾰβήτου toû dĭăbḗtou	τοῖν δῐᾰβήταιν toîn dĭăbḗtain	τῶν δῐᾰβητῶν tôn dĭăbētôn
Dative	τῷ δῐᾰβήτῃ tōî dĭăbḗtēi	τοῖν δῐᾰβήταιν toîn dĭăbḗtain	τοῖς δῐᾰβήταις toîs dĭăbḗtais
Accusative	τὸν δῐᾰβήτην tòn dĭăbḗtēn	τὼ δῐᾰβήτᾱ tṑ dĭăbḗtā	τοὺς δῐᾰβήτᾱς toùs dĭăbḗtās
Vocative	δῐᾰβῆτᾰ dĭăbêtă	δῐᾰβήτᾱ dĭăbḗtā	δῐᾰβῆται dĭăbêtai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• δῐᾰβήτῐνος (dĭăbḗtĭnos, adjective)
• δῐᾰβητῐ́ζομαι (dĭăbētĭ́zomai, verb)

Related terms

• δῐᾰβᾰ́της (dĭăbắtēs)

Descendants

• → Latin: diabētēs
  • → English: diabetes

References

• “διαβήτης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press