δέον + ῥέω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δάκρυον
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
dakruon
English translation (word)
tear
Transliteration (Etymon)
deon + rheō
English translation (etymon)
needful + to flow
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 331
Ed.
E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1965)
Quotation
Ὠρίωνος. Δάκρυον· ὡς ἐπίπαν παρὰ τὸ ἐκ δέους ἢ ἀπὸ (Orion) Dakruon "tear": generally, from "to flow" (rheîn) from fear (ek deous) or because of need (apo deontos). Or from the fact that the eyes are bitten (daknesthai) by them ῥεῖν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δάκνεσθαι δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὄμματα.
Translation (En)
(Orion) Dakruon "tear": generally, from "to flow" (rheîn) from fear (ek deous) or because of need (apo deontos). Or from the fact that the eyes are bitten (daknesthai) by them
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 245 (Δάκρυον: Ὡς ἐπίπαν παρὰ τὸ ἐκ δέους ἢ ἐπὶ δέοντος ἐκρεῖν)
Modern etymology
Cognate with Skr. áśrū- "tear", Av. asrū- "id.", Lith. ašarà "id.", Toch.B akrūna. The initial /d/ in Greek remains without a convincing explanation (for hypotheses, see Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has δάκρυ "tear"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology, not preserved in the extant versions of Orion's Etymologicum: only the second etymology, by δάκνω, unambiguously comes from Orion. The etymology starts from the allomorph ῥυ- of ῥέω, found in the verbal adjective ῥυτός and other words. This provides the -ρυον, and then an etymon was designed to account for the first syllable δα-: δέον is not very well fitted, but necesstity may be a cause of distress and of tears, therefore it was semantically compatible. The etymology implies a change of the vowel from /e/ to /a/ and the insertion of /k/.