ἐκθέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
χθὲς παρὰ τὸ ἐχθεῖν, ὅ ἐστι παρελθεῖν· καὶ ἀναλογώτερον τὸ ἐχθὲς τοῦ χθές
Translation (En)
Khthes "yesterday" comes from ekhtheîn "to run out", that is, to pass away; and the form ekhthes is more regular than khthes
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, chi, p. 162 (Χθές. ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ε. ἡ γὰρ ἐχθέσασα ἡμέρα καὶ ἐκτὸς γενομένη οὕτως εἴρηται, χθές); Timaeus Soph., Lexicon platonicum, khi p. 1007b (τὸ δ’ ἐχθὲς παρὰ τὸ ἐκθεῖν, ὅ ἐστι παρελθεῖν); Suda, chi 323 (idem); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, chi 15 (γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ ἐκθέω ἐκθεύσω ἐχθές, ⸤ἡ ἐ⸥κ⸤θεύσ⸥ασα ἡμέρα. ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς ⸤ἡμῶν γενέσθαι ταύτης⸥ τῆς ἡμέρας); Scholia in Aristophanem, Comm. in Plutum rec. 2, Schol. plut. l. 880 (τὸ δὲ “ἐχθές” παρὰ τὸ ἐκθεῦσαι καὶ ἐκδραμεῖν τροπῇ τοῦ κ εἰς χ· καὶ ἔστιν ἀναλογώτερον τοῦ “χθές”· τὸ δὲ “χθές” ἰωνικόν ἐστιν ἀφαιρέσει τῆς ε)
Comment
This explanation relies on the notion "tempus fugit", and starts from a motion verb. It is implicitly assumed that an assimilation took place and that the [k] of the preverb ἐκ- became an aspirate [kh] before the aspirate [th] of the verb. Greek scholars were used to this type of assimilation of the final consonant of the preverb, although there is no instance for stops in standard orthography (but there are many instances from epigraphy). As the competing etymology explaining the word from ἐκτός (see χθές / ἐκτός), this one assumes that ἐχθές is older than χθές, and etymology is adduced as a justification