εἶμι

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Last modification

Sun, 08/25/2024 - 06:15

Word-form

ἴσος

Transliteration (Word)

isos

English translation (word)

equal

Transliteration (Etymon)

eimi

English translation (etymon)

to go

Author

Etym. Parvum

Century

9 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etym Parvum, iota 9

Ed.

R. Pintaudi, Etymologicum parvum quod vocatur [Testi e documenti per lo studio dell'antichità 42. Milan: Istituto Editoriale Cisalpino, 1973]

Quotation

ἴσος· παρὰ τὸ ἵημι τὸ πορεύομαι· ὁ μέλλων ἥσω καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἴσος, ὁ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀκολουθῶν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ εἴδω τὸ ὁμοιῶ· ὁ μέλλων εἴσω καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἴσος

Translation (En)

Isos "equal": from hiēmi meaning "to go", the future is hēsō and from it comes isos, in conformity with the others. Or from eidō "to make similar", the future is eisō and from there isos

Comment

Derivational etymology, designed in order to account for the Homeric variant ἐΐση, epithet of ships and of the banquet, as can be seen from other sources. It is justified as an epithet of ναῦς "ship" by the fact that the ship "goes" forward, therefore the epithet was derived from a motion verb. Then this etymology was applied to the regular form ἴσος. It is noteworthy that there is a confusion between εἲμι and ἵημι (this is frequent in Greek sources). The Etym Parvum says the etymon is ἵημι "to throw", but the gloss of the latter, πορεύομαι, is the meaning of εἲμι. This same confusion is found in sources depending from the Etym. Parvum, and the correct formulation is found in Eustathius

Parallels

T Schol. Il. 1.306 (<ἐΐσας:> τινὲς πορευτικὰς παρὰ τὸ ἴω); Geneva Schol. Il. 1.306 ([ἐΐσας] τὰς πορευτικὰς, παρὰ τὸ ἴω); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 446 (ῥητέον δὲ καὶ νῦν ὅτι τὰς τροφὰς ἤϊα λέγει ὁ ποιητὴς παρὰ τὸ εἴω, τὸ πορεύομαι, τὰ αἴτια τοῦ ζῆν καὶ προϊέναι, ὡς διϊκνούμενα ὅλου τοῦ σώματος, ὅθεν καὶ δαὶς ἐΐση, καὶ ναῦς δὲ ὁμοίως ἐΐση κατά τινας ἡ πορευτικὴ καὶ ταχεῖα); ibid., vol. 4,p. 460 (διὸ καὶ δαῖτά τινες ἴσην καὶ ἐΐσην ἐκ τοῦ ἰέναι ἠτυμολόγησαν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p. 629 (Ἐΐσας. ἰσοτοίχους, ἰσοπλεύρους. ἐΐσας ναῦς. ἴσας καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ε ἐΐσας. [ἐγὼ δὲ εὗρον παρὰ τὸ ἴω, τὸ πορεύομαι, ἴσω, ἴσας, καὶ νῆας ἐΐσας] τὰς πορευτικάς)

Modern etymology

Older *ϝισϝος, derived by most scholars from *wid-s-wo-, itself derived from the s-stem found in εἶδος "aspect" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ίσος "equal"

Entry By

Le Feuvre