χέω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
χθών
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
khthōn
English translation (word)
earth
Transliteration (Etymon)
kheō
English translation (etymon)
to pour
Century
5 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, khi, p. 164
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Χθών. ἤτοι παρὰ τὸ ἡ κεχυμένη γῆ.
Translation (En)
Khthōn "earth": that is, from the poured (kekhumenē) earth
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 809 (Χθών: Παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι καὶ χώννυσθαι δύνασθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ χῶ, τὸ χωρῶ· οὗ παράγωγον, χείω· ὅθεν, ‘Οὐδὸς δ’ ἀμφοτέρους ὅδε χείσεται’); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, khi, p. 1852 (Χθών. ἡ γῆ. καὶ κλίνεται χθονός. παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι καὶ χωννύεσθαι. ἢ παρὰ τὸ γῶ, τὸ χωρῶ)
Modern etymology
Old inherited name of the earth, with cognates in all IE languages, belonging with χαμαί, χθαμαλός etc. PIE *dhghom- with either metathesis or cluster simplification in Greek (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No, but the derived adjective χθόνιος "belonging to the underworld" still exists as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology, in which the etymon provides only the initial consonant of the lemma. The etymology may have arisen from a reinterpretation of Philoxenus' etymology by a verb *χῶ meaning "to contain", and inflected *χέω, χεῖς as the verb "to pour" (see χθών / χωρέω)