ξέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Edition
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
ξηρόν· παρὰ τὸ ξέω ῥῆμα· ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· εἴ τι γὰρ ἔξυσται, ξερὸν γίνεται. καὶ κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ ε εἰς η ξηρόν. οὕτω Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ Περὶ μονοσυλλάβων ῥημάτων
Translation (En)
Xēros "dry": from the verb xeō "to scrape". By metaphor, from the material of wood: because if it is scraped, it becomes dry (xeron), and by change of the [e] into [ē], xēron. This is what Philoxenus says in his On monosyllabic verbs.
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio Paris. 2630), p. 187 (Ξηρόν· παρὰ τὸ ξέω· ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· εἴ τι ἔξησται, ξηρὸν γίνεται· τροπῇ τοῦ ι εἰς η. οὕτω Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ περὶ μονοσυλλάβων ῥημάτων); Heraclides Ponticus the Younger, fr. 62 (ap. Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1, 223 Stallbaum) (συνέσταλται δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ξηροῦ τὸ ξερόν· τοιοῦτον δὲ καὶ τὸ νοσηρόν νοσερόν, εὕρηται γὰρ διχῶς. συνηγοροῖτο δ’ ἂν ἢ καθ’ Ἡρακλείδην εἰπεῖν παρηγοροῖτο τὸ ξερόν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξέω· εὐφυῶς γὰρ ἔχει πρὸς ξέσιν λείαν τὰ ξηρά); Etym. Gudianum, xi, p. 415 (Ξηρὸν, παρὰ τὸ ξέω, ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς η, οὕτω Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ περὶ μονοσυλλάβων ῥημάτων); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 611 (Ξηρὸν καὶ Ξερόν: Παρὰ τὸ ξῶ ῥῆμα, ἢ ξέω· ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· εἴ τι γὰρ ἔξυσται, ξηρόν· γίνεται δὲ κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ η εἰς ε, ξερόν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ σκληρὸν, ἐκβολῇ τοῦ λ καὶ κράσει); ibid., p. 416 (Ξύλον, παρὰ τὸν ξύσω μέλλοντα· οὐδεμία γὰρ ὕλη πρὸς τὸ ξύειν ἐπιτηδειοτέρα· ἔνθεν καὶ ξηρόν· πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ξυόμενον ξηρὸν γίνεται); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, xi, p. 1417 (Ξηρόν. παρὰ τὸ ξῶ ῥῆμα, ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· εἴ τι γὰρ ἔξυσται, ξηρὸν γίνεται· καὶ κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ η εἰς ε ξερόν. οὕτω Φίλων); Scholia in Theocritum 1.51c (ξηροῖσι: ἀπὸ τοῦ ξέω ξῶ ῥήματος, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῆς ὕλης τῶν ξύλων· εἴ τι γὰρ ἔξυσται, ξερὸν γίνεται καὶ κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ ε εἰς η ξηρόν)
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on a semantic relationship from cause to consequence: when wood is stripped from its bark, it becomes dry. Philoxenus gives ξέω as the etymon but uses ξύω in the explanation (ἔξυσται) because he considers this is one and the same verb (see ξύω / ξέω). Unless ἔξυσται is a mistake for ἔξησται because of iotacism (later than Philoxenus), as the Paris Excerpta of Orion's Etymologicum could suggest.