φυσάω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
πῦρ
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
pūr
English translation (word)
fire
Transliteration (Etymon)
phusaō
English translation (etymon)
to blow
Century
5 AD
Source
Etym. Gudianum
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, pi, p. 488
Ed.
F. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818
Quotation
Πῦρ, φῦρ τί ἔστιν, ὅτι φυσώμενον ἐξάπτεται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ φύω, φῦρ· τί γὰρ ἐμφυέστερον πυρὸς, φύει λαβόμενον ὕλης
Translation (En)
Pūr "fire" is a *phūr, because it catches on when we blow it (phusōmenon); or from phuō "to grow", *phūr: for what grows better than fire? It grows when it receives wood.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 697 (Πῦρ: Πυρός. Ἔστιν ἐπὶ τῆς εὐθείας μακρόν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς γενικῆς, βραχύ· πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν ἑτέρου σημαινομένου. Ἔστι γὰρ πυρός· τὸ ΠΥ, μακρόν· καὶ σημαίνει τὸν σῖτον. Τὸ δὲ πῦρ, φῦρ τι ἐστὶν, ὅτι φυσώμενον ἐξάπτεται. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ φύω, τὸ ἀναβλαστάνω, φῦρ. Τί γὰρ πυρὸς εὐφυέστερον, ἡνίκα ἐπιλάβηται ὕλης; Φύει γὰρ, λαβόμενον ὕλης)
Modern etymology
Inherited noun for "fire", cognate with Engl. fire, Goth. fon, funins, Hitt. pahhur, pahhuenas. Arm. took on the meaning "fireplace". PIE *peh2-ur/n- (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes, as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology, requiring one formal change, the change of an aspirate [ph] in the assumed etymon into the voiceless [p] of the lemma. The fire is "on which one blows": the etymon, "to blow", is one of the causes of the lemma. This etymology, found in the Gudianum and the Et. Magnum, is likely to go back to Orion, but Orion's text is corrupt (see πῦρ / φέγγω)