ἔρα + δεύω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἔρση
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
hersē
English translation (word)
dew
Transliteration (Etymon)
era + deuō
English translation (etymon)
earth + to soak
Century
12 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 377
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848
Quotation
Ἔρση: Ἡ δρόσος, νοτία, ὁμίχλη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ε, ἐέρση. Παρὰ τὸ ἄρδω ἄρσω, ἄρση, καὶ ἔρση· ποτίζεται γὰρ ὑπ’ αὐτῆς πάντα τὰ φυτὰ, καὶ κατάρδεται. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔραζε σεύεσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ τὴν ἔραν δεύειν
Translation (En)
Ersē "dew, moisture, mist". And by addition of /e/, eersē. From ardō "to water", <future> arsō, *arsē and hersē. For all the plants are watered and irrigated by dew. Or from the fact it rushes to earth (eraze seuesthai). Or from the fact it soaks the earth (eran deuein)
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
From PIE *h1wers-, cognate with Ved. varṣá- "rain", várṣati "it rains", and in Greek οὐρέω "to urinate" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
No
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology, not found anywhere else. It looks like a combination of the other two etymologies mentioned. From ἔρα + σεύω, which is formally justified (by Greek criteria), providing the /er/ and the /s/ according to the acrophobic principle at play in so many Greek compositional etymologies, it derives an etymology ἔρα + δεύω, formally much more difficult. It is likely that the verb δεύω "to soak" was suggested by ἄρδω "to water" of the first etymology, of which it can be understood as a (loose) synonym.