πάντῃ + φάος + ἀΐσσω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
παιφάσσουσα
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
paiphassō
English translation (word)
dart, rush about
Transliteration (Etymon)
pantē + phaos + aissō
English translation (etymon)
every + light + to dart
Source
Idem
Ref.
II, 450
Ed.
H. Erbse, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera), Berlin, 1969-1988
Quotation
παιφάσσουσα : πάντῃ τὰ φάη ἀΐσσουσα.
Translation (En)
paiphassousa "rushing about" : to dart the eyes on every side
Parallels
Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 2.333 (παιφάσσουσα· ἐνθουσιῶσα, ὁρμῶσα, εἰς φόνον ὁρμήσασα· ἐκ τοῦ φῶ φάσσω καὶ παφάσσω καὶ παιφάσσω, ἕτεροι δὲ παιφάσσειν λέγουσι τὸ γοργὰ βλέπειν ἀπὸ τοῦ τὰ φάη πάντα ἀΐσσειν. παιφάσσουσα· ὡς εἰς φόρον (φόνον) ὁρμῶσα· ἐκ τοῦ φῶ φώσω ἀναδιπλασιασμῷ φάσσουσα, καὶ δι’ εὐφωνίαν παφάσσουσα καὶ πλεονασμῷ τουτέστι (τοῦ ι) παιφάσσουσα, ἕτεροι (cod. ἕτερος) δὲ παιφάσσειν λέγουσι τὸ ταχέως βλέπειν καὶ οἱονεὶ πάντα τὰ φάη ἀΐσσειν)
Modern etymology
Reduplicated intensive verb, but the meaning is uncertain and so is the etymology. See Beekes, EDG
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Arthur de Tocqueville
Comment
This etymology is an example of a triple etymon, each accounting for one syllable of the word. It implies many formal changes. The main etymon is ἀΐσσω, which has the same meaning "to dart" as παιφάσσω and is shorter. Then the other two are added in order to account for the sequence παιφα-. Φάος here means "eyes" (φάεα καλά Od. 16.15). The first etymon, πάντῃ "everywhere", agrees with the intensive value assumed for the verb by modern etymologists.