ὅλος

Validation

No

Last modification

Fri, 10/21/2022 - 10:10

Word-form

ὄλβος

Transliteration (Word)

olbos

English translation (word)

prosperity, bliss

Transliteration (Etymon)

olbios

English translation (etymon)

prosperous

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Peri pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 282

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici graeci III/2, Leipzig 1870

Source

Theognostus

Ref.

Canones sive De orthographia 503

Ed.

J. A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1835 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)

Quotation

Ὄλβος παρὰ γὰρ τὸ ὅλος, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β ὄλβος· οὕτως Ἡρωδιανὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ παθῶν.

Translation (En)

Olbos "prosperity" comes from holos "entire", and by addition of the [b], olbos. This is what Herodian says in the Peri pathôn.

Comment

Derivational etymology relying on a simple formal change, the addition of one consonant, despite several differences which Herodian did not take into account: the etymon is an adjective whereas the lemma is a noun, the etymon has a rough breathing whereas the lemma does not (but Herodian operates in a state of Greek in which initial aspiration is lost, therefore the difference was only graphic for him). The "prosperity" is etymologized as the condition of being unharmed and having intact possessions.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, pi, p. 450 (τὸ δὲ ὄλβ[ι]ος γέγονε, παρὰ τὸ ὅλον, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ ὁλόκληρον καὶ πλούσιον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 621 (Μακάριος, εὐδαίμων, πλούσιος, καὶ ἐν μηδενὶ ἐνδεὴς ὢν, οἱονεὶ οὔλιός τις ὤν· οὖλον γὰρ   ἐνταῦθα τὸ ὑγιές. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὄλβος, ὅ ἐστιν ὁλόκληρος καὶ τέλειος· τοῦτο δὲ παρὰ τὸ ὅλος· πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β, ὄλβος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1441 (idem)

Modern etymology

Unknown (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre