This etymology implies a formal manipulation, the interchange between the two liquids [r] and [l], a frequent device in Greek etymology, based on identified cases of liquid dissimilation. From the semantic point of view, it relies implicitly on passages like Od. 4.318 (ἐσθίεταί μοι οἶκος) where "to eat" is used in the meaning "to destroy, to ruin". It is interesting that the formulation has θέμα "stem", and starts from an abstract morphological element (the root common to βιβρώσκω, βρῶσις etc.) and not from an attested word form. Assuming invented monosyllabic verb-forms as the embodiment of those "stems" was typical of Philoxenus, author of a treatise On monosyllabic verbs (Peri monosyllabōn rhēmatōn).