εἶρος

Validation

No

Last modification

Tue, 08/27/2024 - 09:25

Word-form

ἔριον

Transliteration (Word)

erion

English translation (word)

wool

Transliteration (Etymon)

eiros

English translation (etymon)

wool

Author

Choeroboscus

Century

9 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 187

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842

Quotation

Ἔριον, παρὰ τὸ εἶρος. [τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ εἴρω, τὸ συμπλέκω, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ]

Translation (En)

Erion "wool", from eiros "wool". The latter from eirō "to fasten together". Or from eraō "to desire"

Comment

Derivational etymology, deriving the Attic form ἔριον from the Ionic and Homeric one εἶρος. The precise mechanism is left unexplained – it may be a metathesis of /r/ and /i/ or a loss if /i/ in εἰρίον. The etymology is semantically unproblematic since lemma and etymon are one and the same word under two different dialectal forms. This is the reason why the etymology is reversible (see εἶρος / ἔριον), since there is no semantic clue as to the relative anteriority of one form

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 524 (idem)

Modern etymology

The older form is εἶρος < *werwes-, cognate with Lat. vervex "wether" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has έριο as a learned word, referring to wool as matter. The usual word is μαλλί

Entry By

Le Feuvre