land labourers?

[alejandro]

Dear allI read a few days ago about ancient Hellenic/Roman economic organization, and was surprised when I found that land labourers were called GÇ£georgiGÇ¥. I can recognize the root GÇ£geGÇ¥ as land/earth/soil, but have no idea what GÇ£orgiGÇ¥ means (ie, it should mean, allegedly, GÇ£labourerGÇ¥, but is is so?).Also, I noticed the striking similarity between GÇ£georgiGÇ¥ and the name GÇ£GeorgeGÇ¥. Is there a connection there?Kind regardsAlejandro

[ruthaki]

I tried to find something similar in my modern Greek dictionary. "organon" means "implement, tool"
So perhaps that's the connection (as in "working the land")But the word for "land" (ground") in modern Greek is different from a "Geo" rooted word.

[marcus]

My Greek isn't good enough to get into the linguistic details... but yes, 'George' comes straight from Georgios and means 'farmer'.
All the bestMarcus

[agesilaos]

Ergein or similar means to work, hence ergonomics, morphology makes the ee become eo. But dont quote me my former girlfriend was the linguist (now she's my speciality - ancient history!).

[alejandro]

Thanks guys!It's really handy to have such a knowable set of forumers available 24/7!BestAlejandro

[yiannis]

GEORGE m English
Pronounced: JORJ
From the Greek name Georgios which was derived from the Greek word georgos meaning "farmer, earthworker", itself derived from the elements ge "earth" and ergon "work". Saint George was a legendary dragon slayer who was supposedly martyred in Palestine. He is the patron saint of England, Portugal and Catalonia. This name has been borne by six kings of England, two kings of Greece, and the first president of the United States, George Washington. Other famous bearers include authors George Eliot and George Orwell (both pen names; real names Mary Anne Evans and Eric Arthur Blair respectively), composer George Frideric Handel, and Pacific explorer George Vancouver.

[yiannis]

Lang in modern Greek is "Gi" and the farmer is called "Georgos", the name George sounds like "Giorgos"