Derivational descriptive etymology relying on the Homeric phrase ξίφος ὀξύ "sharp sword": the contiguity was assumed to reveal an etymological relationship, and the noun is etymologized from one of its characteristic features, sharpness. This implies a iotacising pronunciation and dropping of the initial [o] of ὀξύς. It is unclear whether what comes next is a different etymology, from ξύω, or basically the same etymology since ὀξύς itself is explicitly derived from ξύω in Eustathius (Comm. Il. 3, 254–255 Van der Valk: ἐκ τοῦ ξύω δὲ ξύσω καὶ ξύς καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ο ὀξύς, ὁ θυμικός).