χέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Edition
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Χεῖλος: ει δίφθογγος· χέλλος γὰρ λέγουσιν οἱ Αἰολεῖς, ὥσπερ κείρω κέῤῥω· ἢ παρὰ τὸ χ[ρ]έω γέγονεν χέλος, καὶ ἐν πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ι χεῖλος· εἰς αὐτὸ γὰρ χ<έ>ονται αἱ τροφαί (NB: Choeroboscus has ἔχονται, rightly corrected by Lentz)
Translation (En)
Kheilos "lip", because the Aeolians say khellos, as keirō / kerrō "to cut". Or from kheō "to pour" comes *khelos, and with addition of [I], kheilos, because the aliments pour into them
Parallels
Scholia in Euripidem, Hec. 90 (χεῖλος τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀπὸ τοῦ χέω διὰ διφθόγγου); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.55 (Χεῖλον (sic)· τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ ἀγκίστρου· παρὰ τὸ χέας χέλος καὶ χεῖλος, ἐν ᾧ χέονται αἱ τροφαὶ ἢ οἱ λόγοι); Scholia in Theocritum, 1.59 (χεῖλος: παρὰ τὸ χέω χέλος <καὶ χεῖλος>· εἰς αὐτὸ γὰρ χέονται αἱ τροφαί)
Meaning "soft": Orion, Etymologicum, chi, p. 163 (Χείλη. τὰ θυροῦντα τὸ στόμα, καὶ οἷον ἐχίλη, τὰ καλύπτοντα καὶ συνέχοντα τοὺς ὀδόντας· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ δι’ αὐτῶν τὸν χιλὸν, τουτέστι τὴν τροφὴν λαμβάνειν· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτὰ κεχύσθαι καὶ μαλακὰ. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἕλκειν τὸ κεχυμένον ποτόν)
Comment
Derivational etymology. The semantic justification is that food pours into the mouth through the lips. The same etymology is attested in Orion, with a different meaning: χείλη […] ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτὰ κεχύσθαι καὶ μαλακὰ "from the fact they are lax (kekhusthai) and soft", a descriptive etymology referring to a material feature of the lips.