ῥέω

Validation

No

Last modification

Sat, 04/13/2024 - 11:25

Word-form

βύρσα

Transliteration (Word)

bursa

English translation (word)

leather bag

Transliteration (Etymon)

rheō

English translation (etymon)

to flow

Author

Etym. Genuinum

Century

9 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum, beta 294

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 2, Athens: Parnassos Literary Society, 1992

Quotation

Βύρσα· παρὰ τὸ δείρω, τὸ ἐκδέρω, ὁ μέλλων Αἰολικῶς δέρσω· καὶ δέρσα καὶ βύρσα, ἡ ἐκδερομένη τῷ σώματι. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥύω ῥύσα καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β καὶ καθ’ ὑπέρθεσιν βύρσα, ἡ περιρρεομένη τῷ ἱδρῶτι. οὕτως Ὦρος 

Translation (En)

Bursa "leather bag": from derō "to skin", the Aeolic future of which is *dersō, then *dersa and bursa, that which is skinned from the body. Or from rhuō "to flow", *rhusa, and by addition of /b/ and metathesis, bursa, the one around which sweat flows (perirreomenē). This is what Orus says

Comment

Derivational etymology. he etymon, ῥέω, appears here under the form ῥύω, which was the ghost present invented by Greek grammarians in order to account for ῥυτός, ῥύσις, ἐρρύην etc. It provides the /u/ and /r/ of βύρσα, and the etymon is then obtained by assuming a metathesis, together with the addition of the initial /b/. Semantically, the etymon is inadequate. As a matter of fact, the description refers to the human skin, on which sweat can flow, whereas the lemma βύρσα refers to animal skin (the proper meaning is "prepared leather"), and animals do not experience sweating.

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 217 (Βύρσα: Παρὰ τὸ δείρω, τὸ ἐκδέρω, ὁ μέλλων Αἰολικῶς, δέρσω· καὶ δέρσα, καὶ βύρσα, ἡ ἐκδερομένη τῷ σώματι. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥύω, ῥύσα· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β, βύρσα, καθ’ ὑπερβιβασμὸν, ἡ περιρρεομένη τῷ ἱδρῶτι); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 516 (Βύρσα: Παρὰ τὸ δείρω, τὸ ἐκδέρω, ὁ μέλλων Αἰολικῶς, δέρσω· καὶ δέρσα, καὶ βύρσα, ἡ ἐκδερομένη τῷ σώματι. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥύω, ῥύσα καὶ βύρσα, ἡ περιρρεομένη τῷ ἱδρῶτι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, beta, p. 411 (Βύρσα. παρὰ τὸ δέρω τὸ ἐκδέρω, ὁ μέλλων αἰολικῶς δέρσω, καὶ δέρση, ἡ βύρσα ἡ ἐκδερομένη τοῦ σώματος. [ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥύω, ῥύσα, ἡ περιῤῥεομένη τῷ ἱδρῶτι.])

Modern etymology

Unknown (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has βύρσα "prepared skin" as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre