λα- + χνόος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λάχνη
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
lakhnē
English translation (word)
soft woolly hair, down
Transliteration (Etymon)
khnoos
English translation (etymon)
down
Source
idem
Ref.
T Scholion Il. 2.219e
Ed.
H. Erbse, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera), vols. 1-5, 7, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1:1969; 2:1971; 3:1974; 4:1975; 5:1977; 7:1988
Quotation
λάχνη: πύκνωσις, παρὰ τὸ λα καὶ τὸν χ<ν>οῦν.
Translation (En)
Lakhnē "down": from la- "very" and khnoun "down"
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 316 (Λάχνη δὲ ἡ τρίχωσις ἢ παρὰ τὸ λαχαίνω, τὸ σκάπτω, καθ’ ὁμοιότητα τῆς ψιλῆς γῆς καὶ μικρά τινα ἐχούσης φυτάρια λαχαινόμενα, ἐξ οὗ παράγεται καὶ τὸ λάχανον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ λα ἐπιτατικὸν καὶ τὸ χνοῦς, ὃ δηλοῖ βραχεῖάν τινα καὶ λεπτὴν τριχῶν ἀνάφυσιν, ὁποία καὶ ἡ τῶν βρεφῶν)
Modern etymology
Older *wl̥k-snā, cognate with Avestan varǝsa- "hair", OCS vlasъ, Ru. volos "hair" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has λάχνη as a learned word referring to a villus (medical term)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology deriving the word from a synonym, with the help of a prefix.