δράω + σῶς

Validation

No

Last modification

Mon, 10/28/2024 - 12:10

Word-form

δρόσος

Transliteration (Word)

drosos

English translation (word)

dew

Transliteration (Etymon)

draō

English translation (etymon)

to act

Author

Choeroboscus

Century

9 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 183

Ed.

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

Quotation

Δρόσος, παρὰ τὸ ῥέω, ῥόσος καὶ δρόσος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ Ζεὺς, Διὸς, καὶ τὸ δεύω τὸ ὁρμῶ καὶ βρέχω, δίοσος καὶ δρόασος, ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ τὸ πράττω, ἡ σώους δρόωσα τοὺς καρπούς.

Translation (En)

Drosos "dew", from rheō "to flow", *rhosos and drosos. Or from Zeus, Dios, and deuō which means "to rush forward" and "to rain", *diosos and *droasos, or from drō "to act", the one making (droōsa) the crops healthy (sōous)

Comment

Compositional etymology by δράω "to make" + σῶς "safe and sound". It is a functional etymology: the dew is etymologized not by a descriptive feature but by its function, which is to provide water to the plants and ensure their growth. Choeroboscus uses here the uncontracted form of the adjective, σῶος. The participle of the verb is assumed to provide the first member, which accounts for the vowel /o/ (δρό-ωσα, which is in fact a Homeric form with diectasis!)

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, delta, p. 380 (<Δρόσος>· ... ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ τὸ πράττω καὶ τὸ σῶον, ἡ σώους δρῶσα τοὺς καρπούς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 287 (Δρόσος: Κατὰ παράλειψιν τοῦ ι· οἷον, ἡ παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς σοουμένη, δίοσός τις οὖσα· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ρ, δρόσος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὕω, τὸ βρέχω, ὕσος· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ υ εἰς ο, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τῶν συμφώνων, δρόσος. […] Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥέω ῥόσος, καὶ δρόσος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ, τὸ πράττω, καὶ τὸ σῶος, ἡ σώους δρῶσα τοὺς καρπούς)

Modern etymology

Unknown (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has δρόσος as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre