καρόω

Validation

No

Last modification

Tue, 12/28/2021 - 14:52

Word-form

καρύαν

Transliteration (Word)

karua

English translation (word)

walnut-tree

Transliteration (Etymon)

karoō

English translation (etymon)

to plunge into torpor

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 647b

Ed.

G.N. Bernardakis, Plutarch. Moralia. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889 (2)

Comment

Paronomastic etymology relying on the identity of the initial sequence [kar]. This leads to granting the tree a virtue that does not rely on observation but only on the alleged etymology.

Parallels

Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 2.8.71.3 (Ὁ γοῦν κιττὸς ἐμψύχει, ἡ δὲ καρύα πνεῦμα ἀφίησιν καρωτικόν, ὡς ἐμφαίνει καὶ τοὔνομα ἐτυμολογούμενον); Scholia in Clementem Alexandrinum, Scholia in Protrepticum et Paedagogum, p. 330 (ἡ καρύα καρωτική, ὡς καὶ τὸ ὄνομα δηλοῖ).

Modern etymology

Unknown (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has the name, in the form of the derivative καρυδιά

Entry By

Le Feuvre