εὖ + νόος + ἔχω
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Transliteration (Etymon)
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Quotation
Εὐνοῦχος. παρὰ τὸ τὴν εὐνὴν ἔχειν καὶ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι· ἔχειν γὰρ τὸ φυλάττειν. Ὅμηρος· ‘ὥς μοι κῆπον ἔχει πολυδένδρεον’. ὁ δὲ εὐνοῦχος παρὰ τὸ εὖ τοῦ νοῦ ἔχειν, ἐστερημένου τοῦ μίσγεσθαι, ἅπερ ἀρχαῖοι ἀνόητα ἐκάλουν. Ἀριστοφάνης, ὕπνου τ’ ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ ἀνοήτων.
Translation (En)
Eunoukhos "eunuch". From "to hold" (ekhein) the bed (eunēn) and to take care of it, for ekhein means "to guard": Homer, ‘hos moi kēpon ekhei poludendreon’ "who guards for me my orchard with many trees" (Od. 4.737). And "eunuch" comes from "to have" (ekhein) the soundness (eu) of mind (nou), being deprived of sexual intercourse, which the ancients called "madness": Aristophanes, "abstain from sleep and madness"
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 560 (Εὐνοῦχος· παρὰ τὸ εὐνὴν ἔχειν καὶ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι· ἔχ⟦ειν γὰρ τὸ⟧ φυλάττειν, Ὅ⟦μηρος <δ 737> „ὅς μοι κῆπον ἔχει πολυδένδρεον“⟧. ὁ δὲ εὐνοῦχος παρὰ τὸ εὖ τοῦ νοῦ ἔχειν ἐστερημένον τοῦ μίγεσθαι καὶ τῶν ἀφροδισίων, ἅπερ Ἀθην⟦αῖοι ἀνόητα ἐκάλουν⟧· Ἀριστοφάνης <Nub. 417?> „ὕπνου τ’ ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ τῶν ἀνοήτων πάντων“); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 560 (Εὐνοῦχος· ... παρὰ τὸ εὖ νοῦν ἔχειν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ εὐνὴν καθαρὰν ἔχειν ἢ φυλάττειν· ἔχω γὰρ τὸ φυλάττω. ἢ παρὰ τὸ εἷς ἑνός ἑνοῦχος καὶ εὐνοῦχος, ὁ μόνος ὢν καὶ μὴ μετ’ ἄλλων συνεζευγμένος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 394 (Εὐνοῦχος: Σπάδων, τομίας· ἀπὸ τοῦ τὴν εὐνὴν ἔχειν καὶ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι καὶ φυλάσσειν. Τινὲς δέ φασι παρὰ τὸ εὖ τοῦ νοῦ ἔχειν καὶ ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν ἀφροδισίων· οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι τὰ ἀφροδίσια ἀνόητα ἐκάλουν, ὡς παρὰ Ἀριστοφάνῃ, « Ὕπνου τε ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ τῶν ἀνοήτων πάντων’); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 950 (Εὐνοῦχος· ἀπὸ τοῦ τὴν εὐνὴν ἔχειν τουτέστιν φυλάσσειν· ἔχειν γὰρ τὸ φυλάττειν. Τινὲς δέ φασι παρὰ τὸ εὖ τὸν νοῦν ἔχειν καὶ ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν ἀφροδισίων· οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι τὰ ἀφροδίσια ἀνόητα ἐκάλουν, οἷον· ὕπνου τε ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ τῶν ἀνοήτων πάντων· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὖνις ὁ ἔρημος, ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ ὀχεῖσθαι. Ἀπὸ τοῦ εἵς ἑνός ἕνις καὶ εὖνις);
Comment
Compositional etymology, with three members. The eunuch, being deprived of the pleasures of Aphrodite, keeps the soundness of his mid, and cannot be a victim of the "madness" of love. Orion's explanation is fuller in the Gudianum: the anciens called anoēta "madness" (lit. "mindless things") the pleasures of love (aphrodisia). This part was dropped in the main manuscript of Orion