κέρας
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
κάρα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
kara
English translation (word)
head
Transliteration (Etymon)
keras
English translation (etymon)
horn
Century
5 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, kappa, p. 81
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
(Orion) Κάρα. ἀπὸ τοῦ τετριχῶσθαι.
(Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 52) οἱ δὲ κάραν λέγουσιν, οἷον κέρα, ἀπὸ τοῦ τετριχῶσθαι· κέρα γὰρ ἡ θρίξ·
Translation (En)
(Orion) kara "head": from the fact it is hairy
(Meletius) others call it karan "head", as kera "horn", from the fact that it is hairy, because kera means "hair"
Parallels
Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 25 (κάραν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ <τε>τριχῶσθαι· κέρας γὰρ ἡ θρίξ); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, kappa 3 (τὸ δὲ κάρα γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ κ⸥έρας, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν τρίχα, ⸤καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς η Ἰωνικῶς γί⸥νεται κάρη· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κείρω ἔκαρον); Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 315 (Κέρας, παρὰ τὸ κάρα, ἐπεὶ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐστι, καὶ τὸ κεραΐζειν ἐκ τῶν ζώων, ἃ τοῖς κέρασι μάχεται); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 504 (idem)
Modern etymology
Κάρα and κέρας do belong together and are both derived from a PIE *kerh2 -s- meaning "head" (Beekes)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has κάρα as a learned word referring to the head of a relic
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The full formulation is preserved in Meletius, and the extant main manuscript of Orion's Etymologic only has the semantic explanation without the etymon κέρας, which has been dropped (this results in an elliptic etymology). This is a derivational descriptiveetymology relying on the metonymical relationship between the head and the hair that covers it. It starts from the derived meaning of κέρας as an equivalent of θρίξ "hair" (this is explicit in Meletius), not from the proper meaning "horn". The etymology implies one formal manipulation, the change of the vowel. It is a reversible etymology, as κέρας is etymologized by κάρα in some sources (see κέρας / κάρα).