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- "Η δερμάτινη ζώνη."
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The word ζώνη is the same with the English word of Greek origin, zone. But not used in this case. The adj. δερμάτινη defines what it is about, a belt.
Doesn't look like it's related to "town" -- though that's also related to enclosing things. But the ultimate Proto-Indo-European roots are different.
Is the word for leather used in this sentence an adjective form or can it be used as a noun to mean "the leather"?.
And, for some reason, that totally grosses me out. I guess i don't like to think of leather as skin.
I now see where we get "derma-" from, meaning relating to skin
"dermat-", actually, from the stem.
(In the nominative case, the τ gets dropped since Greek nouns may not end in a τ, but you can see the full stem e.g. in the genitive του δέρματος.)
Hence why it's a "dermatologist" and not a "dermologist".
A good tip to remember δερμάτινη is the Greek word for skin is δέρμα. As in the skin of the animal (which is leather). Don't know if it helps, but it helps me. :)
