δέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
δημός
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
dēmos
English translation (word)
fat
Transliteration (Etymon)
deō
English translation (etymon)
to bind
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 265
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford 1848
Quotation
Δημός : Σημαίνει δύο· ὀξυτόνως, τὸ λῖπος· 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 […] Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δέω, τὸ δεσμῶ, δεμὸς καὶ δημὸς, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν, τὸ εὐδιάλυτον.
Translation (En)
Dēmos has two meanings. Oxytone, it means "fat" ; it comes from daiō which means "to burn" (kaiō), the second aorist is edaon; *damos and *dēmos, that which is burnt in sacrifices, or through which the sacrifices are burning, because fat burns well […] Or from deō "to bind" and desmō (id.), *demos and *dēmos, through antiphrasis, that which melts easily
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Unknown
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The explanation relies on a phonetic manipulation and is an instance of etymology a contrario (enantiosemy): fat melts or is dissolved easily, therefore it is not bound strongly. The principle according to which a thing can be named after a property it does not have, as well as after a property it does have, gives rise to that type of etymological explanations. It is in fact probably the result of a mixing of two different etymologies, as δέω "to bind" is one of the etymologies provided for δῆμος "people". The lexicographer picked that etymology and tried to adapt it to the meaning "fat", adding the notion of antiphrasis