δαίω2 + φρήν
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
δαΐφρων
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
daïphrōn
English translation (word)
wise
Transliteration (Etymon)
daiō + phrēn
English translation (etymon)
to divide + mind
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 16
Ed.
G. Stallbaum, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam, 2 vols. in 1, Leipzig: Weigel, 1:1825; 2:1826
Quotation
Τὸ δὲ δαΐφρονι δαίεται ἦτορ, τρόπος ἐτυμολογίας ἐστίν
Translation (En)
The ‘daïphroni daietai ētor" "my heart is divided about the wise <Odysseus>" (Od. 1.48) is a form of etymology
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 73 (τούτοις δὲ ὅμοιόν ἐστι ἐν μιᾷ λέξει, τὸ δαΐφρων, ἤτοι δαιόμενος τὰς φρένας τρόπῳ συμβουλῆς)
Modern etymology
Δαΐφρων originally means "wise", from *dn̥s-i-. The word was reinterpreted as meaning "warlike" when it was used as an epithet of Homeric heroes, by a synchronic etymology relating it to ἐν δαῒ λυγρῇ
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Etymology deduced from the Homeric line (ἀλλά μοι ἀμφ’ Ὀδυσῆϊ δαΐφρονι δαίεται ἦτορ Od. 1.48), by which δαίεται ἦτορ is assumed to be the etymological decomposition of δαΐφρονι. As a result, the compound must mean "who balances in his heart", as Eustathius makes it clear elsewhere. Deducing an etymology from a co-occurrence of words was a systematic practice among scholiasts, who used to seek in the text etymological hints