ἀλέα
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Μασχάλη. ἀπὸ τοῦ κεχαλᾶσθαι εἰς μαστὸν, ἢ εἰς ἣν χαλᾶται ὁ μῦς, ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλέας τῆς διὰ τὴν καμπὴν τοῦ σώματος. οὕτω Σωρανός. ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλείδης ἀπὸ τοῦ μαστεύειν τι ὑπ’ αὐτήν· ἐπειδὴ οἱ ὑφαιρούμενοι ὑπ’ αὐτὴν κρύπτουσι.
Translation (En)
Maskhalē "armpit": from "to be loosened" (kekhalâsthai) toward the breast, the one toward which the muscle (mūs) relaxes (khalâtai), or from the heat (aleas) produced by the body's bending. This is what Soranus says. But Heraclides says it comes from masteuō "to seek": one seeks something under it, because thieves hide <their theft> under it.
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excepta e cod. regio Paris. 2630), p. 187 (Μασχάλη· παρὰ τὸ εἰς μασ<τ>ὸν χαλᾶσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ σχῶ σχήσω σχήλη, ὡς στήσω στήλη, καὶ μεταθέσει τοῦ η εἰς α, σχάλη, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τῆς μα συλλαβῆς, μασχάλη, ἡ λίαν κατέχουσα ἅτινα ἂν σχῇ· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ χαλᾶσθαι εἰς μαστόν· ἢ εἰς ἣν χαλᾶται ὁ μῦς· ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλέας τῆς διὰ τὴν καμπὴν τοῦ σώματος. οὕτω Σωρανός. ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλείδης ἀπὸ τοῦ μαστεύειν τὶ ὑπ’ αὐτὴν, ἐπειδὴ οἱ ὑφαιρούμενοί τι ὑπ’ αὐτὴν κρύπτουσιν); Etym. Gudianum, mu, p. 381 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 574 (Μασχάλη: Παρὰ τὸ κεχαλᾶσθαι εἰς μαστὸν, ἢ εἰς ἣν χαλᾶται ὁ μῦς· ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλέας τῆς διὰ τὴν καμπὴν τοῦ σώματος· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ μαστεύειν τι ὑπ’ αὐτὴν, ἐπειδὴ οἱ ὑφαιρούμενοι τι ὑπ’ αὐτὴν κρύπτουσιν. Ἢ ἐκ τοῦ σχῶ σχήσω σχήλη, ὡς στήσω στήλη, καὶ μεταθέσει τοῦ η εἰς α σχάλη, καὶ κατὰ μετάπλασιν τῆς ΜΑ συλλαβῆς μασχάλη)
Comment
This etymology was mistakenly integrated into the series of possible etymologies of μασχάλη. The original formulation in Orion was probably different, and ἀλέω was provided as the etymon of χαλάω, itself etymon of μασχάλη. A copyist later on understood ἀλέα as another possible etymon for μασχάλη and the etymology was inserted as such into the series, finding itself in all our extant versions of Orion and in the Byzantine Etymologic, but not mentioned in Meletius (see Le Feuvre, forthcoming).