# γέννα
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

A derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”), though the exact morphological and phonological development is unclear.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡén.na/ → /ˈʝen.na/ → /ˈʝe.na/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /ɡén.na/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈɡen.na/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈʝen.na/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈʝen.na/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈʝe.na/

### Noun

γέννᾰ or γέννᾱ • (génna or génnā) f (genitive γέννης or γέννᾱς); first declension (Poetic)
* Ancient Greek
** Synonym of γένος (génos)
*** descent, lineage
*** origin
**** 2nd century CE, w:Secundus the Silent, Sententiae. 15.
    γῆ γέννα πάντωνgê génna pántōnthe earth origin of everyone/everything
*** offspring, generation
**** 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 853:πέμπτη δ’ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ γένναpémptē d’ ap’ autoû génnathe fifth generation after him
*** family (children), race
** coming forth (of the Moon)
* Medieval (Byzantine) Greek: γέννα • (génna) f (genitive γέννας); first declension
** childbirth (process of childbearing)
** family
** “γέννα τῆς σελήνης (génna tês selḗnēs)”: moonrise (literally: the birth of the Moon) (of the Moon, expression)
** also see τὰ Γέννα • (tà Génna) n pl (genitive Γέννων); second declension (6th century CE): Christmas
    Synonym: τὰ Χριστούγεννα (tà Khristoúgenna)

#### Related terms

* γενναῖος (gennaîos)
* γεννάω / γεννῶ
* γέννας (génnas)
* γεννήεις (gennḗeis)
* γεννικός (gennikós)

#### Descendants

From Medieval Greek:
* Greek: γέννα (génna)
* → Amharic: ገና (gäna)
* → Tigre: ገና (gäna)

#### See also

* τοκετός (toketós)

### References

* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “γέννᾰ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 266

### Further reading

* “γέννᾰ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “γέννα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “γέννα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* γέννα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
* γέννα - Kriaras, Emmanuel (1969-) Επιτομή του Λεξικού της Μεσαιωνικής Ελληνικής Δημώδους Γραμματείας (Epitomí tou Lexikoú tis Mesaionikís Ellinikís Dimódous Grammateías) [Concise Dictionary of the Kriaras' Dictionary of Medieval Vulgar Greek Literature (1100–1669) Vols. 1–14. Vols 15- under I. Kazazes.)] (in Greek), Thessaloniki: Centre for the Greek language Online edition (abbreviations) Printed edition 2022: 22 vols.)
* “γέννα”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

## Greek
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈʝe.na/
* Hyphenation: γέν‧να

### Etymology 1

From Byzantine Greek γέννα (génna) from verb γεννῶ. The Ancient Greek noun γέννα had a different meaning: “ancestry, descendant”).

#### Noun

γέννα • (génna) f (plural γέννες)
* birth (process of childbearing)

##### Usage notes

* The very rare genitive plural “των γεννών”, is either archaic (“τῶν γεννῶν”), or regional demotic, or used for veterinary archives “αρχείο γεννών” (archeío gennón, “archive of births/labours”) while the common “αρχείο γεννήσεων” (archeío genníseon, “archive of births”) has to do with childbirths and registration.

##### Declension

Genitive plural των γεννών (see Usage notes).

##### Synonyms

* γέννηση f (génnisi)
* τοκετός m (toketós)

##### Related terms

* γεννώ (gennó, “give birth or beget”)
* Χριστούγεννα (Christoúgenna, “Christmas”)

### Etymology 2

Inflectional form of the verb γεννάω (gennáo) / γεννώ (gennó, “to give birth”).

#### Verb

γέννα • (génna)
* second-person singular imperfective imperative of γεννάω (gennáo) (also: γένναγε)
* second-person singular perfective imperative of γεννάω (gennáo) (also: γέννησε)

### References

* ↑ γέννα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language