ἥδομαι
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἥβη, ἡ θεὸς, μετὰ δέ σφισι πότνια Ἥβη. καὶ ἡ νεότης, καὶ γ’ ἔχει ἥβης ἄνθος, καὶ ἀνδρότητα καὶ ἥβην, ἤδη τὶς οὖσα, ἤδει γὰρ ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἄνθος οὖσα, καὶ μεταπτώσει τοῦ δ εἰς β Βοιωτικῶς. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἅπτω ἁφὴ καὶ ἥβη, κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ α καὶ τοῦ φ. πηρώδεις γὰρ οἱ ἡβῶντες, ἢ ἁφή τις οὖσα, τότε γὰρ ἁπτόμεθα καὶ ἔργου καὶ γυναικός. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἠβαιὸν, ἡ ἐπ’ ὀλίγον χρόνον οὖσα, ἀπὸ τοῦ βεβηκέναι ἅβη καὶ ἥβη.
Translation (En)
Hēbē, the goddess of youth "and with them august Hebe" (Hom.). And the youth, "and he has the flower of youth", and "manliness and youth" (Hom.). It is a *hēdē "enjoyment", as it were, because it rejoices us, as a flower. And by change of /d/ into /b/, in the Boeotian fashion. Or from haptō "to kindle", haphē "kindling", and with change of /a/ and /ph/ Because young men are fiery. Or a haphē a "touch", as it were, because youth is when we touch both work and woman . Or from ēbaion "little", the one that lasts for a short time, from bebēkenai "to have gone", *habē and hēbē
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 417 (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, eta, p. 971 (idem); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 691 (Ἐκ τοῦ ἥδω δέ, ὅ ἐστιν εὐφραίνω, ἡ ἥβη· χαρίεσσα γὰρ ἡ τοιαύτη ἡλικία καὶ ἡδεῖα κατὰ τὸ «οὗ περ χαριεστάτη ἥβη»); ibid., vol. 2, p. 146 (Ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἥδω, ἤδη τις οὖσα κατὰ τοὺς παλαιούς, καὶ τροπῇ Βοιωτικῇ τοῦ δ εἰς β ἥβη. Διὸ καὶ ὁ ποιητής πού φησι «καὶ δ’ ἔχει ἥβης ἄνθος», καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ «τοῦ περ χαριεστάτη ἥβη»); vol. 3, p. 182 (κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον χαριεστάτη ἡ ἥβη καὶ ἡδεῖα, ὡς τὸ τῆς λέξεως δηλοῖ ἔτυμον. ἀπὸ τοῦ ἥδω γὰρ ἡ ἥβη κατὰ τοὺς παλαιούς); vol. 4, p. 916 (Τὸ δὲ «χαριεστάτη» χρήσιμον εἰς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἥδω παλαιὰν ἐτυμολογίαν τῆς ἥβης. ἡδὺ γὰρ πάντως ἅπαν τὸ χαρίεν); Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 58 (ἐκ τοῦ ἥδω δὲ γινομένη καὶ ἡ ἥβη καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς ὡς καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ ἐῤῥέθη, εὐλόγως δασύνονται); Scholia in Pindarum (vetera) O. 6.95e (τερπνᾶς ἥβας: ὅτι ἐν ταύτῃ μάλιστα τὰ ἡδέα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γίνεται [? probably an implicit etymology])
Comment
Derivational etymology requiring one formal manipulation, the change of the consonant, from /d/ to /b/. The latter is interesting because it is explained as "Boeotian": this relies on a real linguistic basis, the fact that labiovelars before /e/ have a labial reflex in Aeolic (including Boeotian) whereas they have a dental reflex in Ionic-Attic. Greek grammarians clearly had identified the phenomenon of /b/, /p/ instead of /d/, /t/ in Ionic-Attic, but not the conditioning factor, namely, the fact that it occurs only before /e/. From the semantic point of view, it relies on the fact that youth is associated with pleasure.