οἴμη
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
παροιμία
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
paroimia
English translation (word)
proverb
Transliteration (Etymon)
oimē
English translation (etymon)
song
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 422
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum graecae linguae Gudianum, Leipzig, 1818
Quotation
οἴμη δὲ ἡ ᾠδὴ θηλυκῶς, ἐξ οὗ καὶ παροιμία, διὰ τὸ περὶ τὴν ὁδὸν λαλεῖσθαι.
Translation (En)
oimē (“way for song”), in feminine form means song, and paroimia (“proverb”) derives from it, because it is said along the road.
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
The word is a compound of οἴμη "song", which ultimately, as οἶμος "path", is a derivative from *h1ei- "to go" found in εἶμι etc. (Beekes, EDG).
Persistence in Modern Greek
Παροιμία is used in Modern Greek to denote a popular phrase/formulation which expresses something true in a brief but allegorical way, a formulation that originates from people's experience (Triandafyllidis Dictionary of MG).
Entry By
Zucker
Comment
This is the correct etymology from our modern point of view, except that the semantic explanation "said along the road" is not the one assumed nowadays.