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  3. Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-)

hira

English translation: empty gut is good

11:44 Jan 13, 2009
Latin to English translations [PRO]
Science - Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) / Parts of the Body
Latin term or phrase: hira
Greetings,

When looking up "haruspex" I read that it derived from "hira". According to my dictionary, hira = "empty gut", but I think that must refer to a part of the digestive system, not an empty stomach.

All the best,

Simon
SeiTT
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:39
English translation:empty gut is good
Explanation:
Well, haru is an etruscan word, so you can never know, what that meant, but probably empty gut. The Latin hira meant empty gut, this is for sure.
If you don't like this solution, there is another: haruga meant victim, and then there is no empty gut and things like that, just a well known word.

P

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Note added at 1 óra (2009-01-13 12:47:37 GMT)
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I have read that the sanskrit 'hir' meant artery. But this is the least plausable solution.
Selected response from:

Péter Jutai
Hungary
Local time: 06:39
Grading comment
many thanks excellent
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1empty gut is good
Péter Jutai
4 +1Small gut
Luis Antonio de Larrauri
4loin; guts/entrails;
Liliana Galiano


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


57 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
empty gut is good


Explanation:
Well, haru is an etruscan word, so you can never know, what that meant, but probably empty gut. The Latin hira meant empty gut, this is for sure.
If you don't like this solution, there is another: haruga meant victim, and then there is no empty gut and things like that, just a well known word.

P

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 óra (2009-01-13 12:47:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I have read that the sanskrit 'hir' meant artery. But this is the least plausable solution.

Péter Jutai
Hungary
Local time: 06:39
Native speaker of: Hungarian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
many thanks excellent

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Joseph Brazauskas: Excellent.
46 mins
  -> thx
neutral  Sandra Mouton: My dictionary of Latin etymology mention an etruscan origin hypothesis for haru- but says this was dismissed as farfetched and haru- is related with different words, meaning gut or vein, in some indoeuropean languages, e.g. old icelandic, greek, sanskrit
4 hrs
  -> thx
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Small gut


Explanation:
I am just copying from my dictionary:
Hira-ae: Small gut, jejunum (middle section of the small intestine, between the duodenum and ileum). | In plural is guts, insides, innards (Plaut.)

So is a different version. I hope it helps.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2009-01-13 17:41:51 GMT)
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As Péter points out, jejunum in Latin means "empty", so that's another reason why "jejunum" (now as English word) could be a good rendering for hira/"empty gut".

Luis Antonio de Larrauri
Local time: 06:39
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Péter Jutai: This is worth mentioning: ieiunum intestinum means hungry (empty) gut, because it's always empty, for it "works" even after death. So it may be just guessing: if hira means empty gut, it MUST be the jejunum, because that's empty gut.
1 hr
  -> Yes, that is why jejunum might sum up, in one word, the idea of empty gut. Jejunum is not just Latin, is English too, medical English. Good point, Péter.
agree  Sandra Mouton: My (Gaffiot) dictionary gives 'small intestine, jejunum' for hira but according to my Ernout-Meillet dictionary of Latin etymology it isn't, strictly speaking, the origin of haruspex
3 hrs
  -> Thank you, Sandra!
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
loin; guts/entrails;


Explanation:
I'd say, it depends on context though.

haruspex

haruspex N 3 1 NOM S M
haruspex N 3 1 VOC S M
haruspex, haruspicis N (3rd) M [XXXDX] lesser
soothsayer, diviner; inspector of entrails of victims;



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Note added at 6 hrs (2009-01-13 17:57:22 GMT)
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(C16: from Latin, probably from hira gut + specere to look)
♦ haruspical adj
♦ haruspicy n

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Note added at 6 hrs (2009-01-13 18:02:00 GMT)
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oni (green) ; haruspex, hariolus, hira and hilla (entrails),

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Note added at 6 hrs (2009-01-13 18:11:56 GMT)
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Haruspex: The Latin name for a diviner, originally derived from the Etruscan method of Divination, which involved the foretelling of future events from an examination of the entrails of slaughtered animals.The word may have been derived from the Sanskrit root hira (entrails). A synonymous term is Extispicy

Liliana Galiano
Argentina
Local time: 01:39
Native speaker of: Spanish
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