εἰλέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἠλακάτη. ἐκτάσει τοῦ ε εἰς η. εἱλῶ εἱλάσκω καὶ τροπῇ ἠλάσκω. αἵτε κατὰ σταθμὸν ποιμνήϊον ἠλάσκουσιν. σημαίνει δὲ τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τόπου εἰλεῖσθαι. οὕτως οὖν εἱλῶ εἱλήσω εἱλήσκω, καὶ τροπῇ ἠλάσκω, ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα ἠλακάτη, περὶ ἣν τὸ αὐτὸ εἵλημα εἰλεῖται.
Translation (En)
ēlakatē "distaff". By lengthening of the /e/ into /ē/. Eileō "to roll", *eilaskō, and with change <of the vowel> ēlaskō "to wander". ‘haite kata stathmon poimnēïon ēlaskousin’ (Il. 2.470) ("who drive hither and thither about the stalls of the sheepfold", Lattimore). It means "to roll in the same place". Thus, eilô, <future> eilēsō, *eilēskō, and with change <of the vowels> ēlaskō, verbal noun ēlakatē, around which the same rolling goes on
Parallels
Hesychius, Lexicon, eta 319 (ἠλάσκουσι· περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἱλοῦνται τόπον, ἐν κύκλῳ πλανώμενοι Β 470); D Schol. Il. 2.470 (Ἠλάσκουσι. Περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον εἱλοῦνται); A Schol. Il. 18.281b (ἠλασκάζων: περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον ἀλώμενος καὶ οὐκ ἀνύων ὁδόν, ἄλλως τε μεθ’ ἑλιγμοῦ ἐλαύνων καὶ τὴν δίωξιν ποιούμενος. ἔγκειται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἠλεόν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ ματαίως ἐλαύνων [implicit etymologies: 1. ἀλάομαι, 2. εἰλέω, 3. ἠλεός); Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 239 (Ἠλάσκουσι, πλανῶνται. παρὰ τὸ εἱλῶ ἑλάσκω καὶ ἠλάσκω, οἵτε κατὰ σταθμὸν ποιμνήϊον ἠλάσκουσι. ἤγουν τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τόπου εἱλῆσθαι); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 424–425 (Ἠλάσκω: Σημαίνει τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τόπου εἰλεῖσθαι· καὶ ἠλασκάζω ἐκ τοῦ ἠλάσκω, ὡς ῥίπτω ῥιπτάζω. Σημαίνει δὲ ἀμφότερα, τὸ περὶ αὐτὰ πλανᾶσθαι καὶ διατρίβειν· ‘Αἵτε κατὰ σταθμὸν ποιμνήϊον ἠλάσκουσιν’. Ἀντὶ τοῦ ἠλάσκουσαι· ὅ ἐστι, περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον εἰλοῦνται. Καὶ, ‘ἐμὸν μένος ἠλασκάζει’. Περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἰλούμενος τόπον ἐκκλίνει, κρύπτεται, πλανᾶται. Παρὰ τὸ εἰλῶ εἰλήσω γίνεται εἰλήσκω, καὶ εἰλάσκω, καὶ ἠλάσκω κατὰ τροπήν. Ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ἀλῶ, τὸ πλανῶ, γίνεται ἀλάσκω, ὡς γηρῶ, γηράσκω· εἶτα ἠλάσκω, ἠλασκάζω)
Comment
Derivational etymology. "To wander" is to circulate aimlessly, therefore the etymon is assumed to be a verb meaning "to roll". It is likely that this etymology, which appears in Orion as an embedded etymology of the etymon of ἠλακάτη "distaff", was influenced by the relationship between ἠλακάτη and ἠλάσκω, since a distaff can "roll", but not "wander". Therefore, it is likely that next to the etymology of ἠλάσκω by ἀλάομαι, which goes back at least to Philoxenus (see ἠλάσκω / ἀλάομαι), and is incompatible with the meaning ἠλακάτη is the latter is derived from ἠλάσκω (see ἠλακάτη / ἠλάσκω), an alternative etymology was designed, by εἰλέω. It is formally more difficult than the etymology by ἀλάομαι but Greek etymologists were less concerned by form than by semantics