δάκνω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Δάκρυον. δάκν<υ>ον τι ἐστί. ἀπὸ τοῦ δάκνεσθαι δι’ αὐτῶν τὰ ὄμματα. ἢ ὅτι τὰ πολλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς δηκτικῆς λύπης γίνονται.
Translation (En)
Dakruon "tear": it is a *dakn<u>on, as it were. From the fact that the eyes are bitten (daknesthai) by them. Or because many tears are caused by the biting sorrow [Sturz prints δάκνον: the form δάκνυον is preserved in the Darmstadt Excerpta and restored here]
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), gamma, p. 613 (δάκρυον, δάκνυον τί ἐστι· ἀπὸ τοῦ δάκνεσθαι δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὄμματα); Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 43 (τὸ δὲ δάκρυον οἷον τί δάκνυόν ἐστι· δακνομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξέρχεται τὸ δάκρυον); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 19 (τὸ δὲ δάκρυον δάκνυον, τῆς καρδίας δακνομένης); Epimerismi homerici Il. 1.42c (δάκρυα: παρὰ τὸ δάκνω, δάκνυον καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ν εἰς ρ δάκρυον); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, delta 72 (δακρύων: ἀπὸ τοῦ δάκω, ἔνθεν τὸ ἔδακον <καὶ> ‘θυμοδακὴς γὰρ μῦθος’ (θ 185). ἔστιν ἡ εὐθεῖα δάκρυον καὶ δάκρυ· οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ δάκρυον κατὰ ἀποβολήν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ σχηματισμὸν χρῆται ὁ ποιητής· ‘βαλέειν τ’ ἀπὸ δάκρυ παρειῶν’ (δ 198)); Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 331 (Δάκρυον· ὡς ἐπίπαν παρὰ τὸ ἐκ δέους ἢ ἀπὸ δέοντος ῥεῖν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δάκνεσθαι δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὄμματα); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, delta, p. 332 (Δάκρυον· δάκνυόν τί ἐστιν· ἀπὸ τοῦ δάκνεσθαι δι’ αὐτῶν τὰ ὄμματα, ἢ ὅτι τὰ πολλὰ ἀπὸ τῆς δηκτικῆς λύπης γ⟦ίνεται⟧. | Δάκρυον· παρὰ τὸ δήκω, τὸ δαγκάνω, δάκνυ⟦ον⟧ καὶ δάκρυον· δακνομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξέρχεται τὸ δάκρυον); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 61 (Δάκρυα δὲ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ δάκνω. δακνομένης γὰρ οἷον ψυχῆς πρόεισι δάκρυον); ibid., vol. 1, p. 330 (δῆλον δὲ ὡς ἐκ τοῦ δάκνειν γίνεται τὸ δάκρυον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 245 (Δάκρυον: Ὡς ἐπίπαν παρὰ τὸ ἐκ δέους ἢ ἐπὶ δέοντος ἐκρεῖν· παρὰ τὸ δήκω, τὸ δαγκάνω. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δάκνω, δάκνυον καὶ δάκρυον· δακνομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ τῆς καρδίας, ἐξέρχεται τὸ δάκρυον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δάκνεσθαι τὰ ὄμματα ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ); Etym. Symenonis, delta 25 Baldi (Δάκρυον· παρὰ τὸ δάκνω δάκνυον καὶ δάκρυον· δακνομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξέρχεται τὸ δάκρυον, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ δήκω ἔνθεν δακής θυμοδακής μῦθος […] Τὸ δὲ δάκρυ γέγονε ἀπὸ τοῦ δακρύω, οὐ κατὰ ἀποκοπὴν ἀλλὰ κατὰ μετασχηματισμὸν τοῦ δάκρυ τοίνυν ἡ γενικὴ τοῦ δάκρεος ἡ δοτικὴ δάκρεϊ, τὸ πληθυντικὸν δάκρεα, ὡς πώεα ἄστεα); Tzetzes, Exegesis in Homeri Iliadem 1.42 (δάκρυα· ἀπὸ τοῦ δάκνω, τὸ λυπῶ, δάκνυον καὶ δάκρυον· ἢ τὸ διὰ τοῦ κάρας καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὕον, ἤγουν βρέχον); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, delta, p. 470 (Δάκρυον. […] παρὰ τὸ δάκνω δάκνυον καὶ δάκρυον· δακνομένης γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξέρχεται τὸ δάκρυον. [ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ δήκω, ἔνθεν ἔδακον. θυμοδακὴς γὰρ μῦθος τὸ δάκρυον)
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on the semantic association between tears and sorrow or pain, which bite the mind. The tears are the biting ones. The intermediate form *δάκνυον is a ghost, and from it one obtains δάκρυον with a simple change of the consonant /n/ into /r/. The etymon sometimes appears as *δήκω rather than δάκνω