ἀ + λῶ
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἠλεός
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ēleos
English translation (word)
distraught
Transliteration (Etymon)
a + lō
English translation (etymon)
not + to want
Century
1 BC
Reference
fr. *147
Edition
C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2]. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976
Source
[Etymologicum Genuinum AB]
Ref.
fr. *147
Ed.
C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2]. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976
Quotation
Mέλεον· ... παρὰ τὸ λῶ, τὸ θέλω, Ἰωνικῶς ἠλεὸς καὶ μήλεος, ὃν μὴ θέλομεν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ θέλει τὸν μάταιον. εἶτα συστολῇ τοῦ η εἰς ε μέλεος.
Translation (En)
Meleon "useless": ...from lô, "to wish", ēleos "distraught" in the Ionic dialect and mēleos, "what we don’t [mē] want"; because nobody wants what is vain. And then meleos by shortening of /ē/ into /e/.
Other translation(s)
Meleon « vain » : ...de lō, « vouloir », ēleos « insensé » en ionien et mēleos, « ce que nous ne voulons pas (mē thelomen) » ; car personne ne veut ce qui est inutile. Puis meleos par abrègement du [ē] en [e].
Parallels
There are no parallels
Modern etymology
Unclear. Maybe related to ἀλάομαι "to wander" (Beekes, EDG, thinks it is Pre-Greek)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Eva Ferrer
Comment
Compositional etymology, implying a prototype *ἀλεός "not wanted" or "not wanting". Then the privative prefix is lengthened (as in ἀθάνατος, ἀκάματος) and turned into η in Ionic, which yields ἠλεός. Μελεός is assumed to be the outcome of a similar combination, with the negation μή instead of the privative ἀ-.