λα- + ἔχω
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Λάχνη. παρὰ τὸ λα, τὸ ἐπιτατικὸν μόριον, καὶ τὸ ἔχω, ἧς ἐστὶν ἔχεσθαι καὶ λαβέσθαι. ἡ γὰρ τρίχωσις εὔληπτος. οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης.
Translation (En)
Lakhnē "soft woolly hair": from la-, the intensive prefix, and ekhō "to hold, to have", the one we can seize and hold, for the hair is very easy to seize. So says Heraclides.
Parallels
Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, lambda 5 (λάχνη (Β 219): ἡ τρίχωσις. ἐτυμολογεῖται ἐκ τοῦ λα ἐπιτατικοῦ μορίου καὶ τοῦ ἔχω, τὸ κρατῶ· γίνεται λαέχνη καὶ κατὰ κρᾶσιν λάχνη, τὸ πάνυ κεκρατημένον. —παράγεται δὲ παρὰ τὸ λά⸤ζω, τὸ κρατῶ⸥, ὁ μέλλων λάξω καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ λάχνη· οὐδὲ⸤ν γὰρ εὐληπτότερον τῆς τριχός⸥); Etym. Gudianum, lambda, p. 363 (Λάχνη, ἡ τρίχωσις, ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ ἐκ τοῦ λα ἐπιτατικοῦ μορίου καὶ τοῦ ἔχω τὸ κρατῶ· γίνεται λαέχνη καὶ κατὰ κράσιν λάχνη· οὐδὲν εὐληπτότερον τῶν τριχῶν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 558 (Λάχνη: Ἡ τρίχωσις. Ἐκ τοῦ ΛΑ ἐπιτατικοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἔχω, τὸ κρατῶ, γίνεται λαέχνη, καὶ κατὰ κρᾶσιν, λάχνη, ἧς ἐστιν ἔχεσθαι καὶ λαβέσθαι. Ἢ τὸ πάνυ κεκρατημένον· ἡ γὰρ τρίχωσις εὔληπτος. Παράγεται δὲ παρὰ τὸ λάζω, τὸ κρατῶ· ὁ μέλλων, λάξω· καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, λάχνη· οὐδὲν γὰρ εὐληπτότερον τῆς τριχός); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 2.115 (Λάχνην· τὸ δέρμα, τρίχωσιν, δασεῖαν καὶ λεπτὴν τρίχωσιν. Λάχνη ἡ τρίχωσις· ἐκ τοῦ λα ἐπιτατικοῦ μορίου καὶ τοῦ ἔχω τὸ κρατῶ γίνεται λαέχνη, καὶ κατὰ κρᾶσιν λάχνη καὶ πάνυ κεκρατημένον, παράγεται δὲ παρὰ τὸ λάζω τὸ κρατῶ, ὁ μέλλων λάξω, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ λάχνη· οὐδὲν γὰρ εὐληπτότερον τῆς τριχός)
Comment
Compositional etymology, as often with Heraclides. The verb is reduced to one consonant, /kh/. The etymology refers to a property of the hair when it is long enough, and Heraclides does not bother with the fact that λἀχνη "down" refers to a soft hair, not fully grown, one that cannot be "seized" easily.