δαίω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Translation (En)
Dēmos "fat": Aristarchus says the word for "fat" is oxytone, whereas the word for "people" is not. This is also what Ptolemy of Ascalon says, adding that the latter comes from demas ("body"), as though it were a sort of body, or from dasmos ("distribution"), but the word for "fat" comes from daiō "to burn", because fat burns easily
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, delta, p. 45 (Δημός. παρὰ τὸ καίεσθαι. δαιμὸς καὶ δαμὸς, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς η δημὸς, τὸ εὐχερῶς καιόμενον); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, delta 24 (δῆμος καὶ δημός διαφέρει· δῆμος ὁ λαός, δημός δὲ τὸ λῖπος· ἐν πίονι δημῷ (Π 437), ὅπερ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ δαίω, τὸ καίω, ἔδαον δαμός καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς η δημός); Etym. Gudianum, delta, p. 353 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 265 (Παρὰ τὸ δαίω, τὸ καίω, ὁ δεύτερος ἀόριστος, ἔδαον· δαμὸς καὶ δημὸς, τὸ καιόμενον ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις· ἢ δι’ οὗ καίονται αἱ θυσίαι· καυστικὸν γὰρ τὸ λῖπος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, delta, p. 493 (παρὰ τὸ δαίω δαμὸς καὶ δημός. τὸ καιόμενον ἐν ταῖς θυσίαις, ἢ δι’ οὗ καίονται αἱ θυσίαι)
Comment
The etymology, coming from Herodian (Lentz III/2, p. 324), is of a descriptive type, fat burning easily, as a matter of fact. It implies a phonetic manipulation, the loss of the diphthong