ὤψ + ῥύομαι
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Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
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.
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
Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 69 (ὀφρύες καλοῦνται· ἤτοι ὠποῤῥύες, παρὰ τὸ τοὺς ὦπας φρουρεῖν ἐξ ὄμβρων καὶ ἱδρώτων [here ὠποῤῥύες makes it clear that the etymology is ὤψ + ῥύομαι and that φρουρεῖν is only a substitute for ῥύομαι, replaced by a more usual synonym, in an elliptic etymology]); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 444 (Ὀφρῦς, παρὰ τὸ τοὺς ὦπας ῥύεσθαι ἤγουν φυλάττειν); ibid., p. 444 (ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὀρούω τὸ φυλάττω, καὶ τὸ ὢψ ὠπὸς [probably a mistake for παρὰ τὸ ῥύω]); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 644 (Ἢ ὠπορύες, ἢ μᾶλλον ὠπόφρυες τινὲς ὄντες, οἱ τοὺς ὦπας ἢ τὴν ὄπα φρουροῦνται ἀπό τε τῶν ὄμβρων καὶ τῶν καταφερομένων ἱδρώτων, ὡς μὴ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς φέρεσθαι [as for Meletius, the ὠπορύες makes it clear that the etymology is ὤψ + ῥύομαι, but then the compiler added a correction ἢ μᾶλλον ὠπόφρυες designed to have a better match between this form and the explanation by ὄψ + φρουρέω]); Scholia vetera in Theocritum 11.28 (ὀφρῦς: παρὰ τὸ τοὺς ὦπας φυλάττειν καὶ ῥύεσθαι, ὠπορύς τις οὖσα); Schol. in Oppianum, Hal. 1.258 (Ὀφρύς· ἀπὸ τοῦ τὸν ὦπα ῥύεσθαι καὶ φυλάττειν ἀπὸ κακοῦ· τρέπεται γὰρ τὸ ω μέγα ποιητικῶς εἰς ο μικρόν)
Comment
Compositional functional etymology: the function of the brow is to protect the eye. The first member of the compound is identified as the name of the eye, either under the form ὤψ or under the form ὄψ, and the second member as ῥύομαι. This yields *οπρυ-, and ὀφρύς requires a change of /p/ into /ph/. This etymology competes with a similar one in which the second member is identified as φρουρέω, which has the same meaning and provides the sequence /phr/, but requires that the end of the word be dropped. The etymology by ὤψ + ῥύομαι may be older, and φρουρέω may have originally been introduced as an explanation of ῥύομαι, which is a poetic word (see Parallels)