ὁμός + ἀραρίσκω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἄορ
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
aor
English translation (word)
sword
Transliteration (Etymon)
homos + arariskō
English translation (etymon)
same + to adapt
Source
Etym. Magnum
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 823
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967): 1-826.
Quotation
Ὁ δὲ Ὦρος λέγει, ὅτι παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ἀρηρέναι γίνεται ὄαρ· καὶ ὑπερθέσει, ἄορ· καὶ συναλοιφῇ, ὦρ.
Translation (En)
But Orus says that from "to be fitted (arērenai) together (homou)" comes oar, and y metathesis aor "sword", and with contraction ōr.
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omega, p. 1891 (idem)
Modern etymology
The etymology as a root-noun from ἀείρω is still advocated by some. Better is Ruijgh's suggestion that it is from *n̥s-r̥ "sword", cognate with Ved. asi- and Lat. ensis "sword", with Achaean or Aeolic vocalism (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology implying a metathesis. The copulative ἁ- "together" has the form ὀ- in some archaic forms (Hom. ὄπατρος "who has the same father"), and Greek grammarians assumed it was a syncopated form of ὁμός, usual in compounds (ὁμο-X). Therefore the sword is what is fitted together: it may refer to the baldric by means of which the sword is "fitted" to the warrior's body, or to the fact that the sword consists of two parts, the blade and the handle, fitted together. This etymology was originally designed for ὄαρ "woman, wife", supposed to be "fitted" to her husband, and it was transposed to ἄορ with a simple metathesis.