ὀπός + ὥρα
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ὀπώρα
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
opōra
English translation (word)
end of summer, autumn
Transliteration (Etymon)
opos + hōra
English translation (etymon)
sap + season
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologica nominum 123-124
Ed.
R. Reitzenstein, M. Terentius Varro und Johannes Mauropus von Euchaita: eine Studie zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, Leipzig: Teubner, 1901
Quotation
φθίνει δ’ ὀπώρα φθινοπώρῳ προσφόρως, | ὀπός τις ὥρας οὖσα καὶ καρπὸς φίλος.
Translation (En)
The late summer (opōra) fades away, as it should, for the autumn, being the sap (opos) of the season (horas), so to speak, and its dear fruit
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Ὀπώρα is an old compound of ὀπί (variant of ἐπί) + an old name of the autumn *h1os-r/n-, cognate with Goth. asans "harvest", Rus. osen' "autumn" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has οπώρα and οπωρικά (plural of οπωρικό) as a learned word for "fruit". There also are many compounds as οπωροπωλείο and preserves the compound φθινόπωρο "autumn".
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology relying on the fact that the end of the summer is the time of plenty. By itself, ὀπός would rather be associated with the spring and the new birth of vegetation, but here the word refers to the sap of the fruits, not of the tree.