λευκός
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
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Ed.
Quotation
<Ἐλέφας>· ... ἢ παρὰ τὸ λευκός γίνεται λεύκας καὶ λέκας, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ κ εἰς φ λέφας, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ε ἐλέφας· πάνυ γὰρ λευκὸν τὸ ὀστοῦν αὐτοῦ. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλίσσω ἐλίξω γίνεται ἐλίφας καὶ ἐλέφας, ὁ εἰλιγμένην ἔχων ῥῖνα. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐλεφαίρω, τὸ βλάπτω· βλαπτικὸν γὰρ τὸ ⟦ζῶον⟧
Translation (En)
Elephas "elephant" […] Or from leukos "white" comes leukas "white" and *lekas, and by change of /k/ into /ph/ *lephas, and by addition of /e/ elephas, for its bone is entirely white. Or from helissō "to wind up", <future> helixō, comes *eliphas and elephas, the one with a rolled up (eiligmenēn) nose. Or from elephairō "to damage", for the animal causes damage
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 329 (Ἐλέφας: Τὸ ζῷον· Ἀμετροβίων ἐλεφάντων. Ἐλέβας τὶς ὤν· διὰ γὰρ τὸ βάρος ἐν ὕδατι ἑλώδει τὰς ἐπιβάσεις (τουτέστι τὰς μίξεις) ποιεῖται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐλεφαίρω, τὸ βλάπτω· βλαπτικὸς γάρ. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐλίσσω γίνεται ἐλίφας καὶ ἐλέφας, ὁ ἐλιγμένην ἔχων ῥῖνα. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐν ἕλει ἐπιβαίνειν τῇ θηλείᾳ, ἐλέβας τὶς ὤν· ἐπιβαίνει γὰρ τῇ θηλείᾳ, οὐκ ἐπὶ γῆς διὰ τὸν ὄγκον, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἑλώδους ὅπου νέμονται· καὶ γίνεται εἰκότως κοῦφος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ λευκὸς γίνεται λεύκας· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ κ εἰς φ, λέφας· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ε, ἐλέφας· πάνυ γὰρ ἐστὶ λευκὸν τὸ ὀστοῦν αὐτοῦ)
Comment
Derivational etymology, originally meant to account for the meaning "ivory". Since the word ἐλέφας means both "elephant" and "ivory", the etymology intended for the second meaning could be transferred to the first meaning. This results in the bizarre idea that the animal's bones are white, while the ivory are the elephant's teeth, not the bones. The formal aspect is more complicated and requires several manipulations: loss of /u/, change of /k/ to /ph/, addition of /e/. The inflection type of ἐλέφας, ἐλέφαντος is different from that of its assumed etymon λευκάς, λευκάδος, and the gender is different (λευκάς is feminine), but Greek etymologists mostly work only with the nominative case and do not bother with morphological considerations