ἐτός

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Last modification

Fri, 12/27/2024 - 22:10

Word-form

ἔθος

Transliteration (Word)

ethos

English translation (word)

custom

Transliteration (Etymon)

etos

English translation (etymon)

true

Author

Etym. Magnum

Century

12 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etym. Magnum, p. 319

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967)

Quotation

Ἔθος: Εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ ἐτεὸν, τὸ ἀληθές· ὅπερ καὶ ἐτὸς λέγεται· καὶ παρὰ <τοῦτο> ἔθος τὸ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔθω, τὸ ἐξ ἔθους ἔχω, γίνεται ἔθος, ὡς μένω, μένος· σθένω, σθένος.  [NB: τοῦτο is the reading of the Etym. Symeonis; the EM has τό, with the first syllable dropped]

Translation (En)

Ethos "custom". It is thus called from eteos "true", which also has the form etos. And from ethos, that which is always the same. Or from ethō "to be wont to", comes ethos, as menō "to wait", menos "mind", sthenō "to be strong", sthenos "strength"

Comment

Derivational etymology, implying one formal change of the aspirate /th/ to a plain /t/. The etymon is an oxytone adjective, the lemma a paroxytone substantive, which can be accounted for with the rule that substantiated adjectives have a recessive accent (λεύκη "white poplar", from λευκή "white"), which was known to Greek scholars. Semantically, the etymology probably means that the customs reveal the true character of a man or a people. 

Parallels

Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 108 (Ἔθος· εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ ἐτεὸν τὸ ἀληθές, ὅπερ καὶ ἐτὸς λέγεται καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο ἔθος τὸ ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔθω τὸ ἐξ ἔθους ἔχω γίνεται ἔθος, ὡς μένω μένος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p. 622 (idem)

Modern etymology

From *swedh-os-, originally identical with ἦθος. Belongs with ἐθίζω, εἴωθα. Cognate with Ved. svadhā́- "custom" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG no longer has the noun but still has the verb εθίζω

Entry By

Le Feuvre