Talk:ieiunare

Etymology

The use and etymology of this word have been the sole pursuit of my evening, and its winding to one of those "chicken or the egg" paradoxes. The "ieiuna" root seems to have relation to the jejunum (middle part of the small intestines); it is important to note that the it is a characteristic of this organ to be empty (of food) at death. The consensus online is that the jejunum comes from jejunus meaning "empty of food," which gives the more abstract relation to "fasting" and "abstinence". The verb "to fast" seems to derive more naturally from there. This page [1] seems to explain that as well, although it is the only reference to the word I have found except in the Latin Vulgate.

*elAndres 03:32, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

The original source word in Latin seems to be iēiūnus "fasting, hungry, barren", which derives from a Proto-Indo-European root. --EncycloPetey 03:50, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

What PIE root word would that be, by the way? *elAndres 04:27, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

I do not know; my Latin sources don't usually say. There is another user here who often adds PIE etymologies, but he has not been around for the past week. --EncycloPetey 04:42, 30 July 2008 (UTC)