εἰλέω

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Last modification

Thu, 08/15/2024 - 11:25

Word-form

ἠλακάτη

Transliteration (Word)

ēlakatē

English translation (word)

distaff

Transliteration (Etymon)

eileō

English translation (etymon)

to roll

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, eta, p. 67

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820

Quotation

Ἠλακάτη. εἰλακάτη τις οὖσα· παρὰ τὸ εἰλίσσειν, ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος εἰρίου.

Translation (En)

ēlakatē "distaff". A *eilakatē, as it were. From eilissein "to roll", because of the wool that surrounds it

Comment

Derivational etymology. The real etymon is εἰλέω, as can be seen from sources deriving from Orion. In Orion it appears as an elliptic etymology, in which the real etymon εἰλέω, an obsolete word in Greek, is replaced by its synonym ἑλίσσω (under the form εἰλίσσω to preserve the /ei/)

Parallels

Proclus, In Platonis Rem publicam commentarii, vol. 2, p. 209 (τὴν δὲ ἠλακάτην αὐτὸν τὸν ἄξονα τὸν ἐληλαμένον διὰ τῶν σφονδύλων· ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ οὕτως ἐκάλεσεν, ἄλλο τι τῆς ἠλακάτης παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς σημαινούσης, περὶ ἣν εἱλεῖται τὸ ἔριον.); Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 239 (Ἠλακάτη, τὸ τῶν γυναικῶν ἐργαλεῖον, εἰς ὅπερ εἱλίσσουσι τὸ ἔριον. παρὰ τὸ ἑλίσσειν, ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς εἱλήσεως τοῦ ἐρίου, ἢ καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σκεύους); ibid., p. 239 (Ἠλακάτη, ἐκτάσει τοῦ ε εἰς η, εἱλῶ γὰρ εἵλας καὶ ἠλάκα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 424 (Ἠλακάτη: Τὸ γυναικεῖον ἐργαλεῖον, ὄργανον περὶ ὃ εἰλοῦσιν αἱ γυναῖκες τὸ νῆμα. Ἐκ τοῦ ἠλάσκω, ἠλακτὴ, ὡς διδάσκω, διδακτή· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ α, ἠλακάτη. Εἰς ἰδιότητα βαρύνεται. Εἰς ἣν τὸ αὐτὸ εἴλημα εἰλεῖται)

Modern etymology

Already attested in Mycenaean (a-ra-ka-te-ja /alakateiai/ "spinsters"). Unknown etymology (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ηλακάτη "distaff" as a learned word, the usual word is ρόκα (borrowed from Italian)

Entry By

Le Feuvre