καίριος
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Κηρὸς Κηρ. […] 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
Translation (En)
Kēros, kēr. Neuter, it means "soul". And it comes from the fact that knowledge is wiped out, as from bee-wax. Or from the fact that it consists of a mix of cold and warm. Or from the fact that it receives the fatal (kairian) blow. Or from kear, kēr, the latter from *kô meaning "to burn"
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)
Comment
Derivational etymology, requiring the change of the diphthong /ai/ to /ē/. It may have been designed after the monophthongization of diphthongs in Late Greek. Semantically, the etymology is quite acrobatic and relies on a hypallage: the heart is etymologized as "fatal" because it is the organ that receives the fatal blow