ψάω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ψωλή
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
psōlē
English translation (word)
glans
Transliteration (Etymon)
psaō
English translation (etymon)
to rub
Century
5 AD
Source
Meletius
Ref.
De natura hominum p. 112
Ed.
J. A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1835 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)
Quotation
ψωλὴ δὲ, παρὰ τὸ ἐμφυσάσθαι κατὰ τὴν ὄρεξιν τῶν ἀφροδισίων· καὶ ὅτι φυσῶδες φύσει [παράπτωμα] ἐστίν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ψῶ, τὸ ἅπτομαι καὶ κνήθω· κνησμὸς γάρ τις ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς
Translation (En)
Psōlē "glans", from the fact it is swollen because of the desire for the pleasures of love. And because it is by nature swollen. Or from psô, which means to touch and to rub, because physical pleasure consists in rubbing
Parallels
Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 74 (ψωλὴ δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἐμφυσᾶσθαι κατὰ τὴν ὄρεξιν τῶν ἀφροδισίων ἢ παρὰ τὸ ψῶ, τὸ ἅπτομαι καὶ κνήθω· κνησμός ἐστι τὰ τῆς ἡδονῆς)
Modern etymology
Traditionally related to ψῆν "to rub", which is probably a mere folk etymology (see for details Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has ψωλή "penis"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology starting from an inflected form: the first person of the present stem ψῶ provides the first syllable of the lemma. This etymology probably comes from Orion, but was dropped in Orions' main manuscript where only the etymology ψωλή / φυσάω is mentioned