ὤψ + ὄροφος
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Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Ὀφρύες. ἤτοι ὠποφρύες εἰσὶν, ἢ ὠπορύες· παρὰ τὸ φρουρεῖν καὶ ῥύεσθαι· τὰς ὦπας ἀπό τε τῶν ὄμβρων καὶ τῶν ὕπερθεν ἱδρώτων· ἢ ὠπό<φ>υες. αἱ ἐπὶ τῶν ὠπῶν πεφυκυῖαι. ἢ οἷον <ὠ>ποροφύες εἰσὶν, οἷον ὄροφοι τῶν ὠπῶν· οὕτω Σωρανός. (Orion's text has ὠποτρύες and ἐνποροφύες, both plain mistakes)
Translation (En)
ophrues "brows": indeed they are *ōpophrues, or *ōporues "protector of the eyes", from phroureîn "to guard" and rhuesthai "to defend" the eyes against the rain and the sweat that comes from above. Or ōpo<ph>ues, those that have grown above the eyes. Or <ō>porofues, as roofs (orophoi) for the eyes (tōn ōpōn). This is what Soranus says
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 444 (καὶ τὸ ὄροφος, ὀπωρόφοι τινὲς ὄντες, ὄροφοι γὰρ τῶν ὠπῶν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 644 (Ἢ ὠποροφύες τινὲς ὄντες, οἱ ὄροφοι τῶν ὠπῶν)
Comment
Only the last etymology can certainly be ascribed to Soranus. He may have mentioned the preceding one, too, but we cannot be sure. Both are compositional etymologies agreeing with Soranus' views on etymology. The brows are the "roofs" of the eyes: the metaphor hints at the function of the brows, to protect the eyes as a roof protects those under it. From the formal point of view, the etymology implies heavy manipulations: deletion of several syllables, a metathesis of /r/ and /ph/, and the /u/ is not accounted for. Interestingly, ὤψ is formally not needed in the etymology, as one could go from ὄροφος to ὀφρῦς more easily. The noun ὤψ is needed for the semantic component of the etymology, but it is useless for the formal explanation, and must be dropped. This is not an isolated case in Greek etymology. This etymology is not repeated by Meletius.