αἱρετός
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἀρετή· αἱρετή τις οὖσα, ἣν αἱροῦνται πάντες· οὕτω Δίδυμος ἐν Ὑπομνήματι. ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλείδης κατὰ μετάθεσιν στοιχείων, ἐρατή τις οὖσα, ἡ ἐπέραστος κτῆσις· ὡς δὲ ἄλλοι, ἀρεστή, καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ σίγμα, ἀρετή, ἡ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκουσα
Translation (En)
Aretē "excellence", as it is something chosen (hairetē), which everybody chooses (hairoûntai). This is what Didymus says in his Commentary. But Heracleides says it arose through metathesis of letters, as it is something lovely (eratē), a desirable good. And for others, it is arestē "pleasant", and through dropping of the [s], aretē, that which pleases everybody.
Parallels
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1142 (ἀρετή· παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἐρατή, καὶ κατὰ μετάθεσιν τῶν στοιχείων ἀρετή, ἡ ἐπέραστος κτῆσις, ἣν αἱροῦνται πάντες· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ ἀρέσω ἀρεστή καὶ ἀρετή, ἡ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκουσα. λέγεται καὶ ἀρετὴ ἡ κατὰ πόλεμον δύναμις, παρὰ τὸν Ἄρην); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha p. 190 (Ἀρετή· αἱρετ[ικ]ή τίς ἐστι, ἣν αἱροῦνται πάντες. οὕτως Δί⟦δυ⟧μος ἐν Ὑπομνήματι. ὁ δὲ Ἡρακλείδης ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἐτυμολογιῶν φησι κατὰ μετάθεσιν, ἐρατή τις οὖσα, ἡ ἐπέραστος κτῆσις. ὡς δὲ ἐν Ὑπομνήματι εὗρον Θέωνος, ἀρεστή καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ς ἀρετή, ἡ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκουσα); ibid., alpha, p. 191 (παρὰ τὸ αἱρῶ, τὸ προαιροῦμαι); Etym. Magnum, Kalllierges p. 138 (Ἀρετή: Παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἐρατή· καὶ ἐρατὰ δῶρα, τὰ ἐπέραστα καὶ καλά· τουτέστιν, ἡ φιλητή· κατὰ μετάθεσιν τοῦ στοιχείου, ἀρετὴ, ἡ ἐπέραστος κτῆσις ἧς ἐρῶσιν ἢ ἣν αἱροῦνται πάντες· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ, ἀρέσω, ἀρεστὴ, καὶ ἀρετὴ, ἡ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκουσα. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἡ κατὰ πόλεμον δύναμις, παρὰ τὸν Ἄρην, τὸν πόλεμον. Λέγεται δὲ ἀρετὴ καὶ ἡ ἐν παντὶ πράγματι ὑπεροχή· παρὰ τὸ αἱρῶ, τὸ προαιροῦμαι).
This etymology may be implicit in Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics 1144a Bekker (πρῶτον μὲν οὖν λέγωμεν ὅτι καθ’ αὑτὰς ἀναγκαῖον αἱρετὰς αὐτὰς εἶναι, ἀρετάς γ’ οὔσας ἑκατέραν ἑκατέρου τοῦ μορίου, καὶ εἰ μὴ ποιοῦσι μηδὲν μηδετέρα αὐτῶν); the same collocation is repeated in Magna moralia 1.2.5. (οἷον ἡ μὲν δικαιοσύνη καὶ αἱ ἄλλαι ἀρεταὶ καὶ πάντῃ καὶ πάντως αἱρεταί, ἰσχὺς δὲ καὶ πλοῦτος καὶ δύναμις καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα οὔτε πάντῃ οὔτε πάντως); Chrysippus, fr. 39 (ap. Diog. Laertius, Vitae Phil. 7.89) (τήν τε ἀρετὴν διάθεσιν εἶναι ὁμολογουμένην· καὶ αὐτὴν δι’ αὑτὴν εἶναι αἱρετήν); Chrysippus, fr. 24 (ap. Plutarch, De Stoicorum repugnantiis 1040e) (διὸ ῥητέον, μήτε τῶν ἀρετῶν τινα δι’ αὑτὴν αἱρετὴν εἶναι, μήτε τῶν κακιῶν φευκτήν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ταῦτα δεῖν ἀναφέρεσθαι πρὸς τὸν ὑποκείμενον σκοπόν); Chrysippus, fr. 363 (ap. Philo, quod omnis probus liber sit Vol. II p. 454) (τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀπ’ ἀρετῆς οὐ βιασθείς, ἀλλ’ ἑκών (αἱρετὰ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῷ) πάνθ’ ὅσα δρᾷ). The often discussed question whether goods (ἀρεταί) are desirable (αἱρεταί) by themselves (καθ᾽αὑτάς) or because of an external factor gave rise to a synchronic etymological connection: it is not clear whether this was understood as an etymological connection by Aristotle, but it is likely that it was understood as such by Chrysippus and the Stoic school
Comment
The etymology starts from a verbal adjective and relies on a simple phonetic manipulation, the change of the diphthong [ai] into a simple vowel [a]. It implies a linguistic stage where initial aspiration has been lost, since the alleged etymon has an initial aspiration (rough breathing) whereas the word to be etymologized does not. From the semantic point of view, it relies on the idea that excellence is loved and chosen by men, or pleases them, as most etymologies proposed for this word. It may be older that Didymus (see Parallels).