χαίρω + αἷμα
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Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Καίτοι ἕτεροι ὥσπερ φάσγανον ἀπὸ τοῦ σφαγαῖς γάνυσθαι καὶ μάχαιραν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵμασι χαίρειν, οὕτω καὶ χάρμην ἀπὸ τοῦ χαίρειν αἵμασιν εἰρῆσθαί φασι.
Translation (En)
Yet others say that, as phasganon "sword" comes from "to rejoice" (ganusthai) in slaughter (sphagais) and makhairan "dagger" from "to rejoice" (khairein) in blood (haima), similarly kharmē "battle", too, gets its name from "to rejoice" (khairein) in blood (haimasi)
Parallels
There is no parallel
Bibliography
The correct etymology has been published by M. Janda, Purpurnes Meer. Sprache und Kultur der homerischen Welt. Innsbruck 2014, p. 131-143. Χάρμη "battle" is the zero grade of the root found in χρεμετίζω "to whinny". Within Greek, other derivatives are χρόμος· ψόφος ποιός. Οἱ δὲ χρεμετισμός “kind of noise; but for others, whinnying” (Hsch., χ 757), χρόμη· φρυαγμός, ὁρμή, θράσος “neighing, impulse, boldness” (Hsch., χ 753), χρόμις, name of a fish, χρόμαδος (γενύων) (Il. 23.688) ‘gnashing’, as well as words meaning ‘to cough’ in the medical vocabulary. The PIE root is *ghrem- ‘to thunder, to rumble’, with cognates in Baltic and Slavic: Lith. grumė́ti ‘to thunder’, OCS grъměti ‘to thunder’, both from *ghr̥m-eh1-, OCS gromъ ‘thunder’, “which formally matches χρόμος” (Beekes, EDG). Other cognates are found in Germanic, Goth. gramjan ‘to get angry’, OHG grim ‘cruel’, gram ‘wrathful’. To quote Beekes, “Germanic has several expressions for anger and grumbling, which must originally have referred to sounds like droning, gnashing the teeth, etc.” and “The same meaning is encountered in Av. graməṇtąm ‘of those who are wrathful to us’.” The original meaning of χάρμη is therefore "battle din" or "war cry, war clamor".
Comment
Compositional etymology, as opposed to the much more frequent derivational etymology deriving χάρμη from χαίρω via χάρμα (see χάρμη / χάρμα). This etymology does not see the -μη as a suffix, but as the second member of a compound. The etymology seeks support in similar compositional etymologies suggested for two words referring to weapons. Yet "battle" is not a weapon", but this was apparently not an obstacle, and χάρμη "battle" becomes so to speak a reversal of μάχαιρα "dagger", for both have the same etymon "to rejoice in blood", but with a reverse order (αἵμασι χαίρειν / χαίρειν αἵμασι)