Greek: νηστεία

[Rainbowlight]

Hello everyone,

I would like to know what is the known etymology of this Greek word?

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

 

[apmoy70]

It's a compound of the Ancient Greek privative prefix «νη-» /nɛː-/ (also the privative prefixes «να-» /nɐː-/ & «νω-» /nɔː-/) which according to Beekes:

arose from the lE negating prefix *n- combined with a following sequence *HC- (*H = *h₁, *h₂, *h₃, respectively). After reanalysis of such forms, νη- spread as a separate prefix to words without original initial laryngeal (pge 1015)

+ Ancient Greek verb for eat, «ἔδω» /ˈedɔː/ (PIE *h₁ed- to eat cf. Hittite edmi, Sanskrit अत्ति /ˈɐtːi/, Lat. ēst). The paragogic ti- to the word *n-h₁d-ti- is what changes the dental stop /d/ to the fricative /s/ (assibilation):
«νη-δ-τεί-ᾱ» > «νη-σ-τεί-ᾱ»

 

[sotos]

έδω and εσθίω are two variants of the verb, aren't they? Compare Eng. edible to German essen.

 

[apmoy70]

έδω and εσθίω are two variants of the verb, aren't they? Compare Eng. edible to German essen.

Indeed, but if the component verb was ἐσθίω, the deverbal would have been νησθεία /nɛːsˈtʰeːɐː/