δέρω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
δόρυ: ἀπὸ τοῦ δρῦς δρυός δόρυ, ἐπὶ παντὸς λεγόμενον <ξύλου> ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ τὸ δρυμός καὶ δρύφακτος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ δέρω, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ λεπίζω· τοῦ γὰρ φλοιοῦ λεπίζεται τὰ ξύλα. ἢ ἐκ τοῦ θορῶ, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ πηδῶ, θόρυ τι ὂν καὶ δόρυ, τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνατρέχον· καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς ‘ἐπεὶ οὔπω τοῖον ἀνήλυθεν ἐκ δόρυ γαίης’ (ζ 167). ἢ ἐκ τοῦ δρῦς· οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι ἐκ δρυΐνων κατεσκεύαζον ξύλων.
Translation (En)
Doru "tree": from drus, druos "oak", applied to any tree by the ancients, as shown by drumos "thicket" and druphaktos "with a wooden wall", or from derō which means "to flay". Because the trees can be stripped from their bark. Or. from thorô, which means "to leap", a *thoru, as it were, and <then> doru, the one rushing upwards from the earth, ‘epei oupō toion anēluthen ek doru gaiēs’ "since never any such tree had yet risen from the earth" (Od. 6.167). Or from drûs "oak", for the ancients used to build from oak wood.
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 375 (idem); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 370 (ὥσπερ ξύλον ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύω, οὕτω δόρυ ἀπὸ τοῦ δέρω, ὃ καὶ τὸ ξύω δηλοῖ· ὅθεν καὶ δρύπτεσθαι τὸ ξέεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ δόρυ δορύπτω καὶ συγκοπῇ δρύπτω); ibid., vol. 1, p. 593 (τὸ δὲ στρατιωτικὸν δόρυ λέγεται μὲν καὶ αὐτὸ οὕτω διὰ τὸ ἐκδαρῆναι τοῦ φλοιοῦ); ibid., vol. 3, p. 254 (Ξυστὰ δὲ καὶ νῦν τὰ δόρατα ἀπὸ τοῦ περὶ αὐτὰ δευτέρου πόνου. τμηθέντα γάρ, εἶτα τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκδέρονται, ὅθεν καὶ δόρατα λέγονται, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ξύονται δι’ ἐλαφρότητα καὶ ὀρθότητα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 18 (ἀδόροις […] Δόρυ γὰρ λέγεται παρὰ τὸ ἐκδεδάρθαι δόρος) ; ibid., p. 283 (Εἴρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ δρῦς δρυὸς, δόρυ· ἐπὶ παντὸς λεγόμενον ξύλου ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν, ὡς μάρτυς δρυμὸς, καὶ δρύφακτος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δέρω, τὸ λεπίζω· τοῦ γὰρ φλοιοῦ λεπίζεται τὰ ξύλα. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρύπω· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ δρῦς· οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι ἐκ δρυΐνων κατεσκεύαζον. Ἢ ἐκ τοῦ θορῶ, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ πηδῶ, θόρυ τὶ ὂν, τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνατρέχον, ὡς ὁ ποιητὴς λέγει παρετυμολογῶν αὐτὸ, ‘ἐπεὶ οὔπω τοῖον ἀνήλυθεν ἐκ δόρυ γαίης’. Ἔνιοι καὶ τὸ δέρμα, δόρυ); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, delta, p. 564 (idem); Etym. Symeonis, delta 332 (Εἴρηται ἀπὸ τῆς δρυὸς δρύον, τί ὂν ἐπὶ παντὸς ξύλου λεγομένου παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δέρω, τὸ λεπίζω, τοῦ γὰρ φλοιοῦ λεπίζεται τὰ ξύλα. Ἢ θόρυ τί ὄν· τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνατρέχον, ὡς καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς παρετυμολογεῖ· οὔ πω τοίαν ἤλυθον)
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on the familiar alternation between e grade in the verb and o grade in the noun (λέγω ~ λόγος), hence δέρω ~ δόρυ, although the latter is not a thematic noun. Formally straightforward, it relies on the observation that before it can be used in construction, the tree must first be flayed. This etymology happens to be correct by modern standards