θύω2
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἰχθύς
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ikhthus
English translation (word)
fish
Transliteration (Etymon)
thuõ
English translation (etymon)
to rage
Century
9 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 110
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842
Quotation
ἰχθύς, παρὰ τὸ θύω τὸ ὁρμῶ.
Translation (En)
Ikhthus "fish": from thuō "to rush forward"
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, iota, p. 286 (Ἰχθὺς ἱερὸς, ὁ ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ θυόμενος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, iota, p. 1135 (Ἰχθῦς. περισπᾶται. παρὰ τὸ θύω, τὸ ὁρμῶ, ἰθῦς καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ χ ἰχθῦς)
Modern etymology
Isolated within Greek, ἰχθύς has a cognate in Lith. žuvìs "fish", Arm. jukn. PIE *dhghuH- (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has ιχθύς as the learned technical word in zoology. The usual name for "fish" is ψάρι, which is unrelated
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational descriptive etymology. The first syllable is not explained, presumably it was considered as an addition (explicit in Ps.-Zonaras). The fish is etymologized by reference to its speed