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Re: Any info on the name Partheny?
in reply to a message by Claus
Yes, you are right. I don't know if Roberto Faure (the information's author) extended the original meaning according the possible interpretation in the age of use of the name, which would be highly unusual with this author, or if in Ancient Greek the word had two different, but related, meanings or even if the original meaning "single" evolved to "virgin". According to some researches in Google, it seems that the word ðáñèÝíïò meant "virgin" and "maiden, unmarried". And I found a very interesting paper about the original meaning of the word, by Domenico Lembo (professor of the Department of Classical Philology from the University of Naples), pointing exactly in the third possibility:http://www.klaxo.net/tcoto/rel/PARTHEN1.htm
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Well, you are kinda right. The meaning "maiden" evolved later. The reason is because a woman would lose her virginity only when she would be married. This is the general rule of course, since there were prostitutes too. Nevertheless, the actual meaning of the word is virgin,more enforced by Virgin Mary, "Maria hē Parthenos".*Excuse my latinizations; my mobile doesn't support Greek.
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