ἔρα
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Edition
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἔριθος: ι· σημαίνει δὲ τὸν ἐργάτην, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια· γέγονεν δὲ τὸ ἀρσενικὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔρα, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, ἔραθος, καὶ κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ α εἰς ι ἔριθος· καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔριον, ἔριθος·
Translation (En)
Erithos "day-labourer": it means "worker", and the woman doing wool work (ergazomenēn ta eria). But the masculine comes from era, which means "earth", *erathos, and by change of /a/ to /I/ erithos. And from erion "wool", erithos
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 523 (idem); Orion, Etymologicum, epsilon, p. 64 (Ἔριθος, ὁ ἐργάτης. ὁ τὴν γῆν μισθοῦ ἐργαζόμενος. κυρίως δὲ ἐπὶ γυναικῶν ἂν λέγοιτο τῶν τὰ ἔρια ἐργαζομένων); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio Paris. 2630), p. 190 (Ἔριθος· σημαίνει τὸν ἐργάτην, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια. καὶ ἡνίκα μὲν σημαίνει τὸν ἐργάτην, γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔρα, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν γῆν. γέγονεν ἔραθος, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς ι, ἔριθος· ἡνίκα δὲ σημαίνει τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν τὰ ἔρια ἐργαζομένην, γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔριος ἔριθος); Hesychius, Lexicon, epsilon 5840 (ἔριθοι· οἱ γεωργοί. παρὰ τὸ τὴν ἔραν ἐργάζεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶ γῆ vgn. καταχρηστικῶς δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐριουργοί Σ 550 ἢ μισθωτοί); A Schol. Il. 18.550d (ἔριθοι: νῦν ἐργάται, γεωργοί, παρὰ τὴν ἔραν τὴν γῆν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρίζειν ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ); bT Schol. Il. 18.560b (ἐρίθοισιν: ἔριθοι T πάντες οἱ μισθοῦ ἐργαζόμενοι, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ τὴν ἔραν) Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 522 (Ἐρίζειν· κυρίως τὸ περὶ τῆς γῆς διαφέρεσθαι· ἀπὸ τῆς ἔρας, ὅθεν καὶ ἔριθοι, οἱ θερισταί. αἱ δὲ ἔριθοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίων. ἢ φιλόνεικοι, ἀπὸ τῆς ἔριδος); ibid., p. 523 (⟦Ἔριθος· ὁ ἐργάτης, ὁ τὴν⟧ γῆν μισθοῦ ⟦ἐργα⟧ζόμενος· ⟦κυρίως δὲ⟧ καὶ ἐπὶ γυναικῶν ἂν λέγοιτο τῶν τὰ ἔρια ἐργ⟦αζομένων⟧); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 4, p. 251 (Ἔριθοι δὲ οὐ μόνον αἱ ἐριουργοὶ γυναῖκες ἐν ἄλλοις παρὰ τὸ ἔριον, ἀλλ’ ἰδοὺ καὶ οἱ μισθοῦ ἐργαζόμενοι, ὡς οἱ ἀμητῆρες ἐνταῦθα, παρὰ τὴν ἔραν, ὡς δοκεῖ τοῖς παλαιοῖς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 473 (Ἔριθος: Σημαίνει τὸν ἐργάτην καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια· καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἐργάτου, παρὰ τὴν ἔραν, τὴν γῆν, κατὰ μετάθεσιν τοῦ α εἰς ι, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔρις καὶ τὸ θὴς, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν μισθωτόν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔριον γέγονεν ἔριθος. Κυρίως δὲ ὁ τὴν γῆν ἐργαζόμενος ἐργάτης ἐπὶ μισθῷ); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 740 (Ἐριθεύων· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔριθος ἐριθεύω· τὸ δὲ ἔριθος σημαίνει τὸν ἐργάτην. Καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια, καὶ τὸ μὲν παρὰ τὴν ἔραν, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν γῆν, ἔραθος καὶ τροπῇ ἔριθος. Τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ τὸ ἔριον νήθειν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p. 859 (Ἔριθος. ὁ ἐργάτης. σημαίνει καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια. καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἐργάτου ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔρα, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, κατὰ μετάθεσιν τοῦ α εἰς ι· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔριον γέγονεν ἔριθος); Geneva Schol. Il. 18.550b ([ἔριθοι] ἄλλως· ἔριθος <σημαίνει> τὸν ἐργάτην καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐργαζομένην τὰ ἔρια. καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἐργάτου ἐκ τοῦ ἔρα, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, κατὰ μετάθεσιν τοῦ α εἰς ι, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐκ τοῦ ἔριον γέγονεν ἔριθος)
Comment
Derivational etymology. The word is assumed to have two different etymologies according to its grammatical gender (complementary etymology). For a female servant, the etymon is assumed to be ἔριον "wool", for working wool was one of the main tasks of women. The etymon provides the first two syllables of the lemma. For the male servant, who is not involved in wool work, the etymon had to be different. Therefore, since male servants were mostly working in the fields, the assumed etymon is ἔρα "earth", with a subsequent change of /a/ to /i/. Some grammarians, on the other hand, assumed that the proper meaning was "working wool", thus applying to the female servant, and that using the word for a male servant was secondary (Orion, κυρίως, although Orion mixes the two explanations). The position of Herodian is unclear: from Choeroboscus, it seems that he assumed two different etymologies for the feminine and the masculine. However, Orion's κυρίως, which is repeated in several later sources, could suggest that in fact Herodian endorsed only the etymology by ἔριον and thought the use for the male servant was secondary – there was a debate about the proper use, since κυρίως is sometimes used for the etymology by ἔρα, implying that the "proper" etymology was that referring to the male servant and that it was extended to the female servant. In later sources the etymon ἔρα is often replaced by the usual γῆ (elliptic etymology)