δόρυ

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No

Last modification

Sat, 12/30/2023 - 19:20

Word-form

δρύπτω

Transliteration (Word)

druptō

English translation (word)

to tear

Transliteration (Etymon)

doru

English translation (etymon)

tree, stem, spear

Author

Eustathius of Thessalonica

Century

12 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 370

Ed.

M. van der Valk, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols. 1-4, Leiden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987

Quotation

γίνεται δέ, 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

Translation (En)

And, as xulon "wood" comes from xuō "to scrape", so does doru "spear" come from derō "to flay", which also means "to scrape". From which comes druptesthai "to be scraped", from doru "spear" *doruptō, and by syncope druptō

Comment

Derivational etymology, implying only one formal change, a syncope. Elsewhere Eustathius derives δρύπτω from δρῦς instead of δόρυ, which avoids the problem of the syncope. This is not a different etymology really speaking because he assumes δρῦς and δὀρυ are related. Rather, it is a different derivational path within the same etymology. What Eustathius means is that the spear is scraped, that is, polished, when it has been flayed. Elsewhere (vol. 1, p. 506) he assumes that the proper meaning of δρύπτω is ἐκδέρω "to flay"

Parallels

Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 506 (δρύπτειν δὲ κυρίως τὸ ἀποδέρειν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐκδέρειν δόρυ, ἤγουν ξύλον, δένδρον, ἵνα ᾖ δορύπτω, ὡς κορύπτω, καὶ ἐν συγκοπῇ δρύπτω); ibid., vol. 4, p. 753 (Τὸ δὲ «ἐδρύφθη» ἀπὸ τοῦ δόρυ, τὸ ξύλον, καθά που καὶ προδεδήλωται, δορύπτω καὶ συγκοπῇ δρύπτω, ἵνα λέγηται καθ’ ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἐκδερομένων καὶ ξυομένων δρυῶν, ὅ ἐστι ξύλων); Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 89 (Δρύπτεσθαι δὲ ὡς καὶ ἐν Ἰλιάδι ἐδηλώθη, τὸ ξέεσθαι. κατὰ μεταφορὰν τῶν ἐκδερομένων ξύλων. ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ δόρυ δορύπτω καὶ δρύπτω); ibid., vol. 1, p. 224 (Τὸ δὲ δρύπτεσθαι καὶ ἀράσσεσθαι ὡς τὸ μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ δόρυ, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄρης γίνεται, ἀλλαχοῦ δηλοῦται)

Modern etymology

Probably related to δέρω despite Beekes' skepticism (EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre