The
Etymologicum Genuinum (standard abbreviation
E Gen) is the conventional modern title given to a lexical encyclopedia compiled at
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in the mid ninth century. The anonymous compilator drew on the works of numerous earlier lexicographers and scholiasts, both ancient and recent, including
HerodianAelius Herodianus or Herodian was one of the most celebrated grammarians of Greco-Roman antiquity. He is usually known as Herodian except when there is a danger of confusion with the historian also named Herodian....
,
George ChoeroboscusGeorgius Choeroboscus , deacon and professor at the ecumenical school at Constantinople.He is also called chartophylax either as the holder of some ecclesiastical office or as superintendent of the university library. It is not known whether Choeroboscus is an allusion to his earlier occupation or...
,
MethodiusMethodius may refer to:*Methodius of Olympus , Christian bishop, church father, and martyr*Methodius I of Constantinople , patriarch of Constantinople*Saint Methodius , Byzantine Greek archbishop of Great Moravia and scholar...
,
OrionOrion of Thebes was a 5th century grammarian of Thebes , the teacher of Proclus the neo-Platonist, and of Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius II. He taught at Alexandria, Caesarea in Cappadocia and Byzantium. He was the author of a partly extant etymological Lexicon Orion of Thebes (died ca....
,
OrosOros was a late classical/Byzantine lexicographer and grammarian active in the mid-5th century. According to the Suda he was born in Alexandria and taught in Constantinople. The Suda lists ten titles by him, but little of his work survives....
and
TheognostusTheognostus was Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'.Theognostus was born in Constantinople and later in his life became Peter's successor as Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'...
. The
Etymologicum Genuinum was possibly a product of the intellectual circle around Photius. It was an important source for the subsequent Byzantine lexicographical tradition, including the
Etymologicum MagnumEtymologicum Magnum is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicographer around 1150 AD. It is the largest Byzantine lexicon and draws on many earlier grammatical, lexical and rhetorical works...
,
Etymologicum Gudianum and
Etymologicum Symeonis.
Modern scholarship discovered the
Etymologicum Genuinum only in the nineteenth century. It is preserved in two tenth-century manuscripts,
codex Vaticanus graecus 1818 (= A) and
codex Laurentianus Sancti Marci 304 (= B; AD 994). Neither contains the earliest recension nor the complete text, but rather two different abridgements. The manuscript evidence and citations in later works suggest that the original title was simply τὸ Ἐτυμολογικόν and later τὸ μέγα Ἐτυμολογικόν. Its modern name was coined in 1897 by Richard Reitzenstein, who was the first to edit a sample section. The
Etymologicum Genuinum remains for the most part unpublished except for specimen glosses. Two editions are in long-term preparation, one begun by
Ada AdlerAda Sara Adler was a Danish classical scholar and librarian.She is best known for her critical, standard edition of the Suda, which she published in 5 volumes...
and continued by Klaus Alpers, the other by François Lasserre and Nikolaos Livadaras. The latter edition is published under the title
Etymologicum Magnum Genuinum, but this designation is not widely used and is a potential source of confusion with the twelfth-century lexical compendium conventionally titled the
Etymologicum MagnumEtymologicum Magnum is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicographer around 1150 AD. It is the largest Byzantine lexicon and draws on many earlier grammatical, lexical and rhetorical works...
.