genə-

Also gen-. To give birth, beget; with derivatives referring to aspects and results of procreation and to familial and tribal groups. Oldest form *g̑enə₁-, becoming *genə₁- in centum languages.

Derivatives include kin, king, jaunty, genius, pregnant, gingerly, and nature.

I. Basic form *genə-.

1. Suffixed form *genə-es-.

a. gender, general, generate, generation, generic, generous, genre, genus; congener, degenerate, engender, miscegenation, from Latin genus, race, kind;

b. gene; allogeneic, genealogy, genocide, genotype, heterogeneous, syngeneic, from Greek genos and geneā, race, family;

c. -gen, -geny; epigene, from Greek suffix -genēs, “-born.”

2. Suffixed form *gen(ə)-yo-.

a. genial¹, genius; congenial, from Latin genius, procreative divinity, inborn tutelary spirit, innate quality;

b. engine, ingenious, from Latin ingenium, inborn character (in-, in; see en).

3. Suffixed form *genə-ā-. indigen, indigenous, from Latin indigena, born in (a place), indigenous (indu-, within; see en).

4. Suffixed form *genə-wo-. genuine, ingenuous, from Latin ingenuus, born in (a place), native, natural, freeborn (in-, in; see en).

5. Suffixed form *gen(ə)-men-. germ, german², germane, germinal, germinate, from dissimilated Latin germen, shoot, bud, embryo, germ.

II. O-grade form *gonə-, reduced to *gon- in suffixed form *gon-o-.

1. gonad, gono-, -gony; archegonium, epigone, hormogonium, from Greek gonos, child, procreation, seed.

2. Harijan, from Sanskrit janaḥ, offspring, child, person.

III. Zero-grade form *gn̥ə-.

1. Suffixed form *gn̥ə-yo-.

a. kin; kindred, from Old English cyn(n), race, family, kin;

b. king, from Old English cyning, king, from Germanic *kuningaz, king. Both a and b from Germanic *kunjam, family.

2. Suffixed form *gn̥ə-t-.

a. kind², from Old English cynd, gecynd(e), origin, birth, race, family, kind, from Germanic *kundjaz, family, race;

b. kind¹, from Old English gecynde, natural, native, fitting (ge-, collective prefix; see kom), from Germanic *kundiz, natural, native;

c. suffixed form *gn̥ə-ti-.

(i) gens, genteel, gentile, gentle, gentry, jaunty; gendarme, from Latin gēns (stem genti-), race, clan;

(ii) genesis, -genesis, from Greek genesis, birth, beginning;

d. kindergarten, Kriss Kringle, wunderkind, from Old High German kind, child, from Germanic secondary full-grade variant *kentham;

e. suffixed form *gn̥ə-to-. Jataka, from Sanskrit jāta-, born (verbal adjective of janate, he is born).

3. Reduplicated form *gi-gn(ə)-. genital, genitive, genitor, geniture, gent¹, gingerly; congenital, primogenitor, primogeniture, progenitor, progeny, from Latin gignere (past participle genitus), to beget.

4. Reduced form *gn- in suffixed form *-gn-o-. benign, malign, from Latin benignus, good-natured, kindly (bene, well; see deu-²), and malignus, evil-natured, malevolent (male, ill; see mel-³).

5. Zero-grade form *gn̥ə- becoming *gnā-. pregnant¹; impregnate, from Latin praegnās, pregnant (prae-, before; see per¹).

6. Suffixed form *gn̥ə-sko- becoming *gnā-sko-. naive, nascent, natal, nation, native, nature, née, Noël; adnate, agnate, cognate, connate, enate, innate, neonate, puisne, puny, renaissance, from Latin gnāscī, nāscī (past participle gnātus, nātus), to be born.

7. Reduced form *gn̥- in Sanskrit compound kṛmi-ja- (see kʷr̥mi-).

 

[Pokorny 1. g̑en- 373.]

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