λεῖος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λιαρόν
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
liaros
English translation (word)
warm, mild
Transliteration (Etymon)
leios
English translation (etymon)
smooth
Century
9 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Genuinum, lambda 99
Ed.
K. Alpers, Bericht über Stand und Methode der Ausgabe des Etymologicum genuinum [Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Hist.-filol. Meddelelser 44.3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1969]
Quotation
Λιαρὸν καὶ λιαρή· διὰ τοῦ Ι. τὸ δὲ λεῖος καὶ λεία διὰ τῆς ΕΙ διφθόγγου. ἠμάτιοι, λιαρὴ γὰρ ὑπὸ κνέφας. ἡ ὁμαλὴ καὶ λεία.
Translation (En)
Liaros "warm, mild" and liarē. With <I>, whereas leios "smooth" and leia are spelled with the diphthong <EI>. Daily, for it is sweet because of the twilight, it means the even and smooth (leia) one
Parallels
Schol. Od. 5.268b Pontani (λιαρόν τε] ἢ χλιαρόν, ἢ καὶ ὁμαλόν, ἀπὸ τοῦ “λεῖον” τὸ ὁμαλόν)
Modern etymology
Unknown (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology. The explanation ultimately relies on a line from the Odyssey (7.266), where λιαρός is used as epithet of οὖρον "favorable wind". This is why it is said "even" and "smooth". This line was imitated by Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. 2.1032 ἠμάτιοι, λιαρὴ γὰρ ὑπὸ κνέφας ἔλλιπεν αὔρη· "in the day, for at dusk the warm breeze left" – the line quoted by the Genuinum. The etymology implies a ioticizing pronunciation of λεῖος, which is why the Geuinum insists on the spelling difference between the lemma and the etymon