This etymology is found only in some versions of Cyrillus' Lexicon – the version edited by U. Hagedorn has no mention of Philoxenus. This is a descriptive etymology, which refers to a formal characteristic of the noun: the point of a thrown weapon such as a spear or an arrow makes a quick move. As [ss] is the result of the palatalisation of [kh] (ἐλαχύς / ἐλάσσων, ταραχή / ταράσσω), the alternation between [kh] and [ss] was familiar to Greek scholars, and the velar stop could be deduced from the Homeric future ἀΐξω. Philoxenus often takes as a starting point the future form, especially when he must account for a form with an [s]: here the future provided the initial sequence [aik], which then required only one change in order to account for [aikh].