πάλλω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
παλαίω
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
palaiō
English translation (word)
to wrestle
Transliteration (Etymon)
pallō
English translation (etymon)
to sway
Century
1 BC
Reference
575
Edition
C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976]
Source
Orion
Ref.
Etymologicum, pi, p.134
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820
Quotation
παλαίω· παρὰ τὸ πάλλω, τὸ σείω, παλαίω.
Translation (En)
Palaiō "to wrestle": from pallō "to shake" comes palaiō.
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 142, 23 (Ὁ παθητικὸς παρακείμενος πέπαλμαι, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ παλάμη, δι’ ἧς χεὶρ κινεῖται, καὶ ἐκ τούτου γίνεται παλαίω); Etym. Genuinum [Vat. gr. 1818, f.242v, ll. 13-14] (Παλαίω. παρὰ τὸ πάλλω, τὸ σείω); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 647, 22 (Παλαίω: Παρὰ τὸ πάλλω, τὸ σείω· ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς παλάμης); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, pi, p. 1516, 22 (Παλαίω. παρὰ τὸ πάλλω, τὸ σείω)
Modern etymology
Unclear (Beekes, EDG). The connection with πάλλω is still advocated by some scholars
Persistence in Modern Greek
The verb is lost in MG but the derivatives παλαιστής and παλαίστρα still exist as learned words
Entry By
Arthur de Tocqueville
Comment
Derivational etymology, purely paronymic because wrestling is a fight with bare hands: no tool or weapon can be "shared"