ἐδωδή + ῥέω

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Last modification

Wed, 12/29/2021 - 19:20

Word-form

δέρη

Transliteration (Word)

deirē

English translation (word)

throat

Transliteration (Etymon)

edōdē + rheō

English translation (etymon)

food + to flow

Author

Etym. Magnum

Century

12 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 257

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford 1848

Quotation

δέρη· Ὅπερ καὶ δειρὰ καλεῖται· καὶ ἐκ τούτου δειροτομῆσαι. Κυρίως δὲ δέρη καὶ δειρὰ καλεῖται ἐπὶ τῶν τετραπόδων, ὁ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τράχηλος, διὰ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδέρεσθαι· καταχρηστικῶς δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπων. Ἔστι δὲ παράγωγον παρὰ τὸ δέρω, δέρα, καὶ δέρη Ἰωνικῶς, καὶ δειρή· ἢ κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ δ, εἰρά τις οὖσα, παρὰ τὸ εἴρειν, τὸ λέγειν, ἡ φωνητική· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥέειν τὴν ἐδωδήν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ τὰ χορηγούμενα δεῖν, ἤγουν δεσμεῖν.

Translation (En)

Derē "throat": also called deira, from which comes deirotomēsai ‘to cut the throat’. Properly called derē and deira when it applies to animals, it refers to the neck of animals, because they are skinned starting from there; and by extension also for humans. It is a derivative from derō "to skin", dera, and derē in Ionic, and deirē; or it is, through adjunction of the [d], a *eira, as it were, from eirein ‘to speak’, the speaking one; or from the fact that food (edōdē) flows (rhein) through it; or from the fact that it binds together the food supply.

Comment

Compositional etymology: the throat is the body part through which food is ingested. The second syllable -ρη was referred to ῥέω "to flow", and the remaining first syllable was accounted for by a form of the root ἐδ- "to eat", with a metathesis of the vowel and consonant (this is not explicit).

Parallels

There is no parallel.

Modern etymology

Traditionally connected with Ved. grīvā́- "neck", Ru. griva, but this poses formal problems (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre