ἔαρ2
Word
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Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
κῆρ: παρὰ τὸ κέαρ, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ κῶ, κέω, κέαρ. ἢ παρὰ τὴν καῦσιν· τὸ γὰρ ἔμφυτον θερμόν φασι τὴν ψυχήν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ κεκρᾶσθαι αὐτὸ ἐκ τῶν στοιχείων, τουτέστιν ἐκ θερμοῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔαρ, ὅ ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα. ἢ παρὰ τὸ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα
Translation (En)
Kēr "heart". From kear. The latter from *kô "to burn", *keo, kear. Or from the burning (kausin), for they say the innate heat is the soul. Or from the fact that it is a mix (kekrasthai) of elements, namely, of warm and cold. Or from ear "blood", which is the breath. Or from the fact that knowledge is wiped away from it as from wax
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 511 (Κῆρ: Περισπωμένως σημαίνει τὴν ψυχὴν, γένους οὐδετέρου· γίνεται παρὰ τὸ κέαρ, ὃ δηλοῖ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχήν· γίνεται παρὰ τὸ κεκρᾶσθαι ἐκ ψυχροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ ἐπίσης ἔχοντος. Κέκραται δὲ ἐκ τῶν στοιχείων. Κῆρ δὲ, ἀπὸ τοῦ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα· ἢ παρὰ τὸ καιρίαν δέχεσθαι τὴν πληγήν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ καίω. Καὶ τί μετέχει; Τὸ γὰρ ἔμφυτον θερμὸν φασὶν εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν. Παρὰ τὴν καῦσιν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κῶ, τὸ καίω, κέαρ· καὶ κατὰ συναίρεσιν, κῆρ· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔαρ, ὅ ἐστι πνεῦμα. Ἐκ τοῦ κῆρ κηρὸς κηρόθεν καὶ κηρόθι ἐπίρρημα, τὸ ἐκ ψυχῆς); Joannes Tzetzes, Exegesis in Homeri Iliadem 1.45 (κῆρ· ἡ ψυχή, παρὰ τὸ κεκρᾶσθαι ἐκ ψυχροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔαρ, ὃ σημαίνει κατά τινας μὲν τὸ αἷμα, κατά τινας δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα, ἔαρ, ἦρ, καὶ κῆρ); Schol. Aeschylus, Prom. 437c (vetera) (Κέαρ παρὰ τὸ «κεκρᾶσθαι» ἐκ ψυχροῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ, ἢ κατά τινας ἐκ τῶν δʹ στοιχείων. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ «καίω», τὸ ἐντόσθιον πῦρ. ἢ παρὰ τὸ «ἔαρ», ὃ σημαίνει κατά τινας μὲν τὸ αἷμα καθ’ ἑτέρους δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα· ἔαρ, ἆρ, καὶ κῆρ)
Comment
This etymology starts from the pseudo-archaism κέαρ, a dissyllabic form invented next to the old κῆρ as though the latter resulted from a contraction. This κέαρ makes it possible to relate it to an old word for "blood", ἔαρ. Greek scholars disagreed on the meaning of the latter: most correctly understood "blood" whereas others understood "breath" (this is the case in the Epimerisms). Greek medicine did not establish any relationship between the heart and the blood, so that here we should probably assume that the common semantic element is warmth. Blood is warm and the heart is also etymologized as "warm" in several sources (see κῆρ / καίω), therefore if both share the same characteristic feature, the one can be the etymon of the other