τρίζω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
θρίξ
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
thrix
English translation (word)
hair
Transliteration (Etymon)
trizō
English translation (etymon)
to utter a shrill cry
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 768
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford, 1848
Quotation
Τρίχες: Παρὰ τὴν τραχύτητα, τράχες τινὲς οὖσαι· οἱ δὲ, ἀπὸ τοῦ τρίζειν ἐν τῇ κουρᾷ· οἱ δὲ, ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους· οἱ δὲ, ἀπὸ τοῦ τρύχεσθαι καὶ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι συνεχῶς.
Translation (En)
Trikhes "hair": from its coarseness (trakhutēta), being *trakhes, as it were. But for others, from trizein "to utter a shrill cry" when it is cut. And for others, from their number. And others, from the fact that they are consistently trimmed (trukhesthai) and cut
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, tau, p. 1745 (idem, except for τραχέες instead of τράχες)
Modern etymology
Isolated within Greek. Maybe cognate with Lith. drikà "thread, with a variation of the last consonant of the root comparable to cases like *steib(h)/p-, despite Beekes' skepticism
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has τρίχα (from the non-nominative stem of Ancient Greek τριχ-)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology, starting from the non-nominative stem τριχ-, and implying one change of the final consonant. The semantic relationship between lemma and etymon is arbitrary: etymologizing the name of the hair from the "noise" of the cut hair is purely ad hoc