ὤψ + φρουρέω

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Mon, 08/22/2022 - 14:20

Word-form

ὀφρύες

Transliteration (Word)

ophrus

English translation (word)

brow

Transliteration (Etymon)

ōps + phroureō

English translation (etymon)

eye + to guard

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, omicron, p. 117

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820

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

Comment

Compositional functional etymology similar to the etymology ὤψ + ῥύομαι. The two appear to be mere variants, and this one may be derived from the etymology by ῥύομαι, which seems older. As ῥύομαι is a poetic word, it was explained by φρουρέω and sometimes simply replaced by it (elliptic etymology). But the etymology ὤψ + φρουρέω became an etymology in its own right.

Parallels

Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 66 (Τὸ δὲ ὀφρὺς πόθεν γίνεται; Παρὰ τὸ φέρω, φορὺς, καὶ ἐν ὑπερβιβασμῷ ὀφρύς· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὢψ, ὠπὸς, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, καὶ τοῦ φρουρῶ τὸ φυλάσσω, ὠποφρὺς, καὶ ἐν συγκοπῇ ὀφρὺς, καὶ συστολῇ τοῦ Ω εἰς Ο, ὁ τὴν ὦπα φυλάσσων); 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]); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 41 (ὀφρύες καλοῦνται· παρὰ τὸ τοὺς ὦπας φρουρεῖν); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 166 (ὀφρῦς δ’ ὠπόφρυς, ὄψεως φρουρὰ φίλη); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 444 (Ὀφρῦες λέγονται, ἤτοι ὠπόρυες, παρὰ τὸ φρουρεῖν τὰς ὦπας [elliptic etymology here again]); 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]); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, p. 1489 (Ὀφρύες. ἤτοι ὀποφρύες, οἱ τὴν ὦπα φρουροῦντες, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ὄμβρων καὶ τῶν καταφερομένων ἱδρώτων, ὡς μὴ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς φέρεσθαι. ἢ ὀποφύες τινὲς ὄντες, κατὰ συγκοπὴν καὶ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ ρ).

There may be a hint at this etymology in Galen, De usu partium, Kühn vol. 3, p. 632-633 : ἐβούλετο δ’ ἡ φύσις μήτε τῆς χρείας κωλῦσαί τι μήτε τὴν ἀσφάλειαν διαφθεῖραι, ἐξεῦρεν ἐργάσασθαι μόριον αὐτοῖς ὑψηλόν τε ἅμα καὶ φρουρεῖν ἱκανόν, ἄνωθεν μὲν ὀφρῦς ὑπερθεῖσα, κάτωθεν δὲ τὸ καλούμενον μῆλον ὑψώσασα, τοῖς δ’ ἐντὸς μέρεσι τὴν ῥῖνα παραθεῖσα, τοῖς δ’ ἐκτὸς τὴν τοῦ καλουμένου ζυγώματος ἔκφυσιν.

Modern etymology

Inherited word for "brow", matching Ved. bhrū-, Engl. brow, Germ. Braue, OCS brъvь, isolated in Greek (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG has φρύδι, from the old diminutive ὀφρύδιον

Entry By

Le Feuvre