κεῖμαι

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Mon, 08/02/2021 - 22:05

Word-form

κότος

Transliteration (Word)

kotos

English translation (word)

rancour

Transliteration (Etymon)

keimai

English translation (etymon)

to lie down

Author

Chrysippus

Century

3 BC

Reference

fr. 416, l. 34-35

Edition

J. von Arnim, Stoicorum veterum fragmenta, vol. 3, Leipzig, 1903

Source

Nemesius

Ref.

De natura hominis chap. 20, l.9-10

Ed.

M. Morani, Nemesii Emeseni de natura hominis, Leipzig, Teubner, 1987

Quotation

κότος δὲ ὀργὴ παρατηροῦσα καιρὸν εἰς τιμωρίαν· εἴρηται δὲ […] παρὰ τὸ κεῖσθαι

Translation (En)

Rancour (kotos) is a wrath that awaits the right moment for revenge. It gets its name from the verb “to lie down" (keisthai).

Comment

Paronymic etymology repeated in the Greek scholarly tradition down to Byzantine times, which authors most of the time justify by means of Homeric references, either Il. 1.82-83 (ἀλλά τε καὶ μετόπισθεν ἔχει κότον, ὄφρα τελέσσῃ, || ἐν στήθεσσιν ἑοῖσι "but afterwards he keeps rancour in his heart, until he fulfills it"), or Il. 13.517 (δὴ γάρ οἱ ἔχεν κότον ἐμμενὲς αἰεί "he was keeping against him an everlasting rancour"). A variant takes the word back to a ghost verb *κῶ, κέω meaning κεῖμαι, which would be the basic "root" underlying all those derivatives, in the manner of Philoxenus.

Parallels

J. Damascenus, Expositio fidei 30, 10-11 (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, theta p. 1059 (idem); Apollonius, Lexicon homericum, p. 112 (Αρίσταρχος δὲ κότος πολυχρόνιος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκεῖσθαι); Porphyrius, Quaestionum homericarum liber I, section 81 (ὅτι δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἐγκεῖσθαι κότος εἴρηται, ἐξηγεῖται); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, theta 5 (s.v. θυμός: κότος δὲ ἡ πολυχρόνιος μνησικακία ἀπὸ τοῦ κεῖσθαι); Etym. Parvum, theta 1 (χόλος δὲ οἱονεὶ κίνησις χολῆς, ἀπὸ τοῦ κεῖσθαι. κότος δὲ ἡ πολυχρόνιος μνησικακία) [mistake for κότος δὲ ἡ πολυχρόνιος μνησικακία ἀπὸ τοῦ κεῖσθαι]; Etym. Gudianum, theta, p. 267 (idem, with the same mistake); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, kappa 63 (γίνεται δὲ κότος παρὰ τὸ κῶ, τὸ κοιμῶμαι, κέω κόος καὶ κότος, ἡ κοιμωμένη καὶ ἡσυχάζουσα ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ μῆνις); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 532 (idem); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 149 (Ἐνεκότουν ἐστὶ κεῖμαι, καὶ σημαίνει τὸ διάκειμαί πως, τὸ τρίτον κεῖται, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ κότος ἡ ὀργὴ); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 472 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 340 (Κότος, ἡ ὀργὴ, παρὰ τὸ κέω κῶ τὸ κεῖμαι, κέημι, ὁ παθητικὸς κέεμαι κεῖμαι, τὸ τρίτον κεῖται, ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα κότος, ἡ ἐναπομένουσα ὀργὴ κότος λέγεται); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 13 Van der Valk (ἐγκαθίσαν δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ ἐπὶ πλέον εἰς κότον ἀποκαθίσταται, ὃς οὕτω λέγεται ἀπὸ τοῦ κεῖται ῥήματος); ibid., 1, 122 (ὁ γὰρ κότος, ὡς προεγράφη, χόλος ἐστὶν ἀποκείμενος); ibid. 3, 618 (εἴη ἂν καὶ ὁ ἐμπεσὼν χόλος κότος ὡς ἐγκείμενος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1234 (Κότος. ὀργὴ ἐπιτηροῦσα καιρὸν εἰς τιμωρίαν, ἢ ἐναπομένουσα ὀργή. παρὰ τὸ κέω, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ κεῖμαι, κέημι, ὁ παθητικὸς κέαμαι, κεῖμαι, τὸ τρίτον κεῖται, ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα κότος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ κέεσθαι, κεῖσθαι, κότος); Nicephorus Gregoras, Explicatio in librum Synesii De insomniis p. 19 (μῆνις δὲ καὶ κότος ἐστὶν ὁ ἐπιμένων καὶ ἐγκείμενος θυμός); Scholia in Batrachomyomachia 102 (κότος, ἀπὸ τοῦ κεῖσθαι εἰς τὸ ἔτι καὶ εἰς τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα); Scholia et glossae in Sophoclis Ajacem (glossae et scholia recentiora) 41a (κότος παρὰ τὸ κεῖσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ).

The etymology is implicit in Eustathius' Oratio 10, 75 (Ποῦ γὰρ μῆνις, ποῦ δὲ κότος, ὃ μήτε παραμένει, μήτε ἔγκειται;)

Modern etymology

Unclear. Maybe cognate with words meaning "fight" in other Indo-European languages, but isolated in Greek (Beekes, EDG).

Persistence in Modern Greek

Κότος does not survive in Modern Greek as a word, but it is traced in the word "αποκοτιά", which means 'boldness' (Triandafyllidis Dict. of Modern Greek).

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