ὁράω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ὤρα

Transliteration (Word)

hōrā

English translation (word)

season, period of time

Transliteration (Etymon)

horaō

English translation (etymon)

to watch

Author

Etym. Gudianum

Century

11 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Gudianum, omega, p. 580

Ed.

F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 229-584

Quotation

Ὥρα, ἡ τροπὴ, παρὰ ὡρεῖν καὶ φυλάσσειν τεταγμένως τὸν ἴδιον καιρόν

Translation (En)

"Season" (hōrā), mans "the turning point" (that is, the solstice), from the fact that it "watches" (hōreîn) and keeps in order each appropriate time

Comment

The alleged etymon *ὡρέω is a ghost-word, derived from the denominative verbs built on compounds of ὁράω, especially πυλωρέω from πυλωρός "gatekeeper" (Hom. πυλαωρός). This is probably inspired by Il. 5.749-751 where the Hours are the gatekeepers of heaven (αὐτόμαται δὲ πύλαι μύκον οὐρανοῦ ἃς ἔχον Ὧραι, | τῇς ἐπιτέτραπται μέγας οὐρανὸς Οὔλυμπός τε | ἠμὲν ἀνακλῖναι πυκινὸν νέφος ἠδ᾿ ἐπιθεῖναι "and moving of themselves groaned the gates of the sky that the Hours guarded, those Hours to whose charge is given the huge sky and Olympos, to open up the dense darkness or again to close it", transl. Lattimore): the reference is explicit in the Etym. Magnum (see Parallels). This etymology does not imply any phonetic manipulation

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 823 (Γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ὡρῶ, τὸ φυλάττω· κατὰ γὰρ ὥραν ἐφύλαττον οἱ ἀρχαῖοι ἐν ταῖς νυξίν. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ διορίζειν τὰ διαστήματα τῆς ἡμέρας· παρὰ τὸ ὁρίζω ὅρα καὶ ὥρα. Ὥρα ἡ τροπὴ, παρὰ τὸ ὡρεῖν, ἡ φυλάττουσα συντεταγμένως τὸν ἴδιον καιρόν. Καὶ Ὧραι αἱ πυλωροὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ θεαί· παρὰ τὸ ὡρεῖν καὶ φυλάττειν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omega, p. 1890 (τὸ δὲ ὥρα παρὰ τὸ ὡρεῖν, ἡ φυλάττουσα 
τεταγμένον τὸν ἴδιον καιρόν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὁρίζειν, ὅρα καὶ ὥρα ἐκτάσει τοῦ ο εἰς ω. καὶ 
Ὧραι αἱ πυλωροί. παρὰ τὸ ὡρεῖν καὶ φυλάσσειν)

Modern etymology

Ὥρα "period of time" is cognate with Engl. year, Germ. Jahr, Avestan yārǝ "year", from *Hyoh1-r-eh2 (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Ωρα is still used in Modern Greek to designate 1. the hour, 2. a period of time in general, 3. a certain moment, 4. the appropriate time (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek)

Entry By

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