μῆλον2 + ἵζω

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Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

μέλισσα

Transliteration (Word)

melissa

English translation (word)

bee

Transliteration (Etymon)

mēlon2 + hizō

English translation (etymon)

apple + to sit

Author

Epimerismi homerici

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, mu 2

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2] Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995: 59-761

Quotation

μελίφρων (Β 34): παρὰ τὸ μέλισσα· τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ μῆλον, ὃ σημαίνει πάντα τὸν καρπόν, μήλιζά τις οὖσα, ἡ τοῖς καρποῖς ἐφιζάνουσα. ἡ γὰρ μέλισσα τῶν ἀνθῶν τὰ χρησιμώτατα συλλέγουσα τὸ μέλι ποιεῖ· τὰ μὲν καλὰ ἐκλέγεται, τὰ δὲ φαῦλα ἀπορρίπτει

Translation (En)

Meliphrōn "sweet-minded": from melissa "bee". The latter comes from mēlon "apple", which refers to any kind of fruit; a *mēliza, as it were, the one sitting (ephizanousa) on the fruits. Because the bee chooses the most useful flowers and makes honey out of them. It chooses the beautiful one and drops the ones with a poor quality.

Comment

Compositional etymology which is clear only in the ghost word *μήλιζα, and is then reformulated under a developed form in usual words (ἡ τοῖς καρποῖς ἐφιζάνουσα). The word μῆλον "apple" is explicitly said to be a cover-term for any kind of fruit, which refers to Il. 9.542 αὐτῇσι ῥίζῃσι καὶ αὐτοῖς ἄνθεσι μήλων "with their roots and the flower of the fruits". The etymology implies two formal manipulations, the change of [ē] into [e], and of [z] into [ss]. It is a descriptive etymology but not fit: the bee "sits" on the flower, not on the fruit, and μῆλον as an etymon relies on a metonymy.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, mu, p. 386 (idem); Photius, Bibliotheca, p. 535b (Ὅτι ἡ μέλιττα ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ μέλειν εἴρηται (οἰκονομικὸν γὰρ τὸ ζῷον), ἢ μήλιζαν αὐτὴν λεκτέον ὡς ἐφιζάνουσαν πᾶσι τοῖς καρποῖς· τὸ γὰρ μῆλον κατὰ πάντων ληπτέον τῶν καρπίμων); Etym. Parvum, mu 15 (Μέλισσα· παρὰ τὸ ἐν τοῖς ‘μήλοις’ ἱζάνειν· τὰ δὲ μῆλα σημαίνει τὰ ἄνθη αὐτοῖσι μήλ<19οι>19σι· καὶ τί μετέχει; εἰς τὰ ἄνθη· ἡ γὰρ μέλισσα τῶν ἀνθέων τὰ χρησιμώτατα συλλέγει καὶ ποιεῖ τὸ μέλι); Etym. Gudianum, mu, p. 384 (Μέλισσα, παρὰ τὸ ἐν τοῖς μήλοις ἱζάνειν· μῆλα δὲ λέγει Ὅμηρος τὰ πρόβατα); ibid., p. 385 (Μέλισσα, οἱονεὶ μέλιζα, ἡ πᾶσιν ἐφιζάνουσα τοῖς καρποῖς· μῆλα γὰρ κατὰ πάντα εἴρηται οἱ καρποὶ τῶν βοτάνων, ὅθεν καὶ πολύμηλος γῆ); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 2, 799 Van der Valk (Ἐκ δὲ τοῦ τοιούτου μήλου κατὰ τοὺς παλαιοὺς καὶ ἡ μέλισσα ὡς μήλοις ἐφιζάνουσα καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν ἀπανθίζουσα, παρὰ τὸ μῆλον δηλαδὴ καὶ τὸ ἵζω τὸ κάθημαι, τοῦ η συσταλέντος εἰς ε); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 2, 42 Stallbaum (Μέλισσαι δὲ ὅτι παρὰ τὸ μήλοις ἐφιζάνειν ἤγουν ἄνθεσι γίνεται, καὶ ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὴν Ἰλιάδα δεδήλωται. ὡς δὲ καὶ παρὰ τὸ μέλω καὶ αὐταὶ καὶ τὸ μέλι, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κεκοίνωται); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 577 (Μέλισσα: Παρὰ τὸ μέλειν· οἰκονομικὸν γὰρ τὸ ζῷον καὶ ἐπιμελές· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ μῆλον, ὃ σημαίνει πάντα τὸν καρπὸν, μήλιζά τις οὖσα, ἡ πᾶσιν ἐφιζάνουσα τοῖς μήλοις· ἡ γὰρ μέλισσα, τῶν ἀνθῶν τὰ χρησιμώτατα συλλέγουσα, τὸ μέλι ποιεῖ, τὰ μὲν καλὰ ἐκλέγουσα, τὰ δὲ φαῦλα ἀπορρίπτουσα); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, mu, p. 1344 (Μέλισσαι. παρὰ τὸ μέλειν, τὸ φροντίζειν. οἰκονομικὸν γὰρ τὸ ζῶον καὶ ἐπιμελητικόν. ἢ μήλιζα τὶς οὖσα, ἡ πᾶσιν ἐφιζάνουσα τοῖς καρποῖς ἤγουν μήλοις. μῆλον γὰρ κατὰ πάντων εἴρηται τῶν καρπῶν, ὅθεν καὶ πολύμηλος γῆ ἡ πολύκαρπος); Scholia in Euripidis Hippolytum 77a3 (μέλισσα] μέλισσαν τὴν καθαρὴν ψυχὴν διὰ τὸ ἄδολον. τοιοῦτον γὰρ ζῷον ἡ μέλισσα διὰ τὸ μελιχρὸν τοῦ ὕμνου. ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ παρόσον ἐπὶ τῶν μήλων ἱζάνει. μῆλα δὲ πάντα τὰ ἄκρα τῶν δένδρων. Ὅμηρος· ‘αὐτῇσι ῥίζῃσι καὶ αὐτοῖς ἄνθεσι μήλων’ (I 542)); Scholia in Theocritum (vetera) 3.13b (μέλισσα: παρόσον ἐπὶ τῶν μήλων ἱζάνει· μῆλα δὲ πάντα τὰ ἄκρα τῶν δένδρων. Ὅμηρος (Ι 542)· ‘αὐτῇσι ῥίζῃσι καὶ αὐτοῖς ἄνθεσι μήλων’)

Modern etymology

Μέλισσα is an old *-ih2 derivative of μέλι "honey"

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre