πόνος
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Edition
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
πόντος· παρὰ τὸ πένω τὸ δηλοῦν τὸ ἐνεργῶ καὶ κάμνω, ἀφ’ οὗ πόνος καὶ κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ τ πόντος, καθ’ ὃν πεπόνηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος περὶ τὸν πλοῦν· πόνων οὖν ἐπώνυμος ὁ πόντος. οὕτω Φιλόξενος
Translation (En)
Sea (pontos) is from penō ("to work hard") which means "to be active" and "to toil", from which ponos ("toil"), and through adjunction of [t], pontos "sea", on which the human race suffers toils for sea-faring. Therefore pontos "sea" gets its name from the toils (ponos). So Philoxenus
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, pi 134; Epimerismi homerici, Iliad 1..318 (idem); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, pi 117 (πόντος: ὁ μὲν Φιλόξενος παρὰ τὸ πένεσθαι, τουτέστι καταπονεῖσθαι καὶ ἐνεργεῖν· οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ εἰσρεῖν αὐτὸν πάντας τοὺς ποταμούς, παρὰ τὴν παντός γενικήν. ἡμῖν δὲ δοκεῖ παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνότος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαί, καὶ πόντος ἐν ὑπερθέσει); Etym. Gudianum, pi p. 475 (Πόντος, παρὰ τὸ πένω τὸ ἐνεργῶ καὶ κάμνω ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ πόνος καὶ πόντος, καθὸ πεπόνηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος περὶ τὸν ἁπλοῦν· πόνω οὖν ἐπώνυμον ὁ πόντος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνότος καὶ μεταθέσει πόντος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαί); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 660 (πένω, τὸ κάμνω· ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ πόνος καὶ πόντος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, pi, p. 1561 (Πόντος. παρὰ τὸ πένω, τὸ ἐνεργῶ, ἀφ’ οὗ πόνος καὶ πόντος, καθ’ ὃν πεποίηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνότος καὶ μεταθέσει πόντος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαὶ γεννῶνται [πεποίηται is a misspelling for πεπόνηται]); Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam 107; Schol. rec. Hom. Il. (Geneva scholia) 1.318 (τὸ θέμα πένω, τὸ δηλοῦν τὸ ἐνεργῶ καὶ κάμνω, ἀφ’ οὗ πόνος, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ τ πόντος, καθὸ πεπόνηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος περὶ τὸν πλοῦν· πόνῳ οὖν ἐπώνυμος καλεῖται ὁ πόντος. οὕτως Φιλόξενος. ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς λέγει ὅταν παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνόντος, καὶ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ν πόντος, ἀφ’ οὗ αἱ πνοαί); Scholia in Oppianum, Halieutica 1, 1bis.
This etymology may be already hinted at in Euripides, Orestes 341-344: ἀνὰ δὲ λαῖφος ὥς τις ἀκάτου θοᾶς | τινάξας δαίμων κατέκλυσεν δεινῶν | πόνων ὡς πόντου λάβροις ὀλεθρίοι-| σιν ἐν κύμασιν; and Aeschylus, Suppl. 1006-1007: πρὸς ταῦτα μὴ πάθωμεν ὧν πολὺς πόνος, | πολὺς δὲ πόντος οὕνεκ’ ἠρόθη δορί
Comment
This etymology relies on a minimal formal manipulation, the addition of a consonant, and from the semantic point of view, on the notion of dangerousness of sea-faring