κηρός
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Κῆρ. παρὰ τὸ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα.
Translation (En)
Kēr "heart". From the fact that knowledge is wiped out from it as from wax (kērou)
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 3 (Κηρὸς Κηρ εἴδους τῶν παραγώγων; Παρωνύμου. Πόσα σημαίνει κήρ; Δύο· οὐδετέρως τὴν ψυχήν· καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα, ἢ παρὰ τὸ κεκρᾶσθαι αὐτὴν ἐκ ψυχροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ, ἢ παρὰ τὸ καιρίαν δέχεσθαι τὴν πληγὴν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ κέαρ κῆρ· τοῦτο δὲ παρὰ τὸ κῶ τὸ καίω· (τὴν ψυχὴν γὰρ τὸ ἔμφυτον θερμὸν φασὶν εἶναι·)); Epimerismi homerici Il. 1.44c1 (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); Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 308 (κὴρ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα); 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); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1206 (Κῆρ. ἡ ψυχὴ, ἀπὸ τοῦ δίκην κηροῦ ἀπομάττεσθαι τὰ μαθήματα)
Bibliography
On the problem of etymology of polysemous words/homonyms, see Le Feuvre 2024 ("Multiple etymologies: Alternative, complementary, plural etymologies", in A. Zucker, C. Le Feuvre, M. Chriti (eds.), Ancient and Medieval Greek etymology. Theory and practice II, Berlin, de Gruyter, 2024, pp. 41–99, esp. pp. 62–70)
Comment
Derivational etymology, not requiring any formal change. From the semantic point of view, it is far-fetched. It seems that it comes from the etymology of κήρ "death", which is for us a homonymous word, but was for Greek scholars a different meaning of one single word. It is etymologized as κὴρ δὲ παρὰ τὸ κῆαι (διὰ πυρὸς γὰρ ἔθαπτον), οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸν κηρόν· ἐντετυπῶσθαι γὰρ αὐτῇ καθάπερ ἐν κηρῷ τὰ πράγματα (bT Scholion Il. 8.70), "kēr "fate" comes from kēai "to burn", for they used to bury the dead after cremation, but others say it comes from kēros "bee-wax", because the facts are engraved in her as in wax". This etymology was then adapted to κῆρ "heart", understood as a different meaning of the same word. Since bee-wax has the characteristic that what is engraved in it can easily be wiped out, the symmetrical explanation by ἀπομάσσεσθαι "to wipe out" (the symmetrical process) was also possible, and was used as the etymology of κῆρ "heart" (unifying etymology, see Le Feuvre 2024)