ἕρκος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
εἱρκτή
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
heirktē
English translation (word)
inclosure, prison
Transliteration (Etymon)
herkos
English translation (etymon)
fence, enclosure, wall for defence
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, p. 377
Ed.
E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1965)
Quotation
⟦Ἑ⟧ρσήεις· ὁ ἐν ὕδατι πεπνιγμένος· ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴρ⟦γ⟧ειν καὶ ἐπέχειν τῶν ἀναπνοῶν, ὅθεν καὶ εἱρκτή ἀπὸ τοῦ ἕρκος εἶναι.
Translation (En)
Hersēeis "full of dew", the one asphyxiated in water. From eirgein "to hinder" and to refrain from breathing. From there also comes heirktē "prison", from herkos "fence"
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, p. 377 ((s.v. ἕρσαι) Ὅθεν καὶ εἱρκτὴ, παρὰ τὸ ἕρκος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p.875 (idem); ibid., p. 631 (Εἰρκτή. ἡ φυλακή. παρὰ τὸ ἕρκος)
Modern etymology
Derivative of εἴργω "to fence in" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has ειρκτή as a juridical term
Entry By
Le Feuvre








Comment
Derivational etymology requiring the change of /e/ to /ei/. The meaning of the etymon is similar to that of the lemma, and this is a case where the lemma is etymologized by a synonym. It is unclear how this etymology is inserted here, for it has nothing to do with the lemma. Probably because the assumed lemma of ἑρσήεις is εἴργω, which is widely assumed to be the etymon of εἱρκτή. This is why the compiler added "from there comes also εἱρκτή", and added an alternative etymology for εἱρκτή. The result is that in the wording of the Gudianum, εἱρκτή is etymologized only by ἕρκος and no longer by εἴργω which is the reason of the introduction of the word in this entry. Afterwards, it is repeated in the same context, in entries for words meaning "dew", "dew drops", vel sim.