ἐν + χείρ

Validation

No

Last modification

Sat, 08/08/2026 - 09:40

Word-form

ἐγχειρίδιον

Transliteration (Word)

enkheiridion

English translation (word)

hand sword, manual

Transliteration (Etymon)

en + kheir

English translation (etymon)

in + hand

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Περί ορθογραφίας, Lentz III/2, p. 495

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici graeci, vol. III/2, Leipzig, 1870

Source

Choeroboscus

Ref.

De orthographia (epitome), p. 206

Ed.

J. A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1835 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)

Quotation

ἐγχειρίδιον βίβλος μικρὰ καὶ ξίφος· γέγονε δὲ παρὰ τὴν ἐν χειρί δοτικήν.

Translation (En)

Enkheiridion "small book" and "hand sword". It comes from the dative en kheiri "in the hand"

Comment

The word is assumed to be derived from the prepositional phrase ἐν χειρί "in the hand", which unites the two meanings "manual" and "hand sword", as referring to two small objects that can be held in the hand. Choeroboscus' text (ed. Cramer) has ἔγχει instead of ἐν χειρί, by contamination with the other etymology of the word (see ἐγχειρίδιον / ἔγχος + ἴδιος). Lentz is probably right to restore ἐν χειρί for Herodian, after the Byzantine Etymologica. Choeroboscus' remark about Heliodorus, who wrote a manual of metrics, implies that this was also Heliodorus' explanation of ἐγχειρίδιον

Parallels

Hesychius, Lexicon, epsilon 330 (ἐγχειρίδια· σκεύη, καὶ ὄργανα σκευῶν. ἤγουν δόρατα. καὶ τὰ ἐν χειρί .....); Choeroboscus, Scholia in Hephaestionem, p. 181 (Ἐπιγέγραπται δὲ τὸ παρὸν σύγγραμμα ἐγχειρίδιον, ἢ ὅτι, ὥσπερ τὸ ἐγχειρίδιον ξίφος ὀξὺ καὶ τμητικόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὀξῦνον καὶ τέμνον τὴν διδασκαλίαν· ἤ, ὅπερ ἄμεινον, παρὰ τὸ μικρὸν εἶναι πάνυ (ἐπιτομὴν γὰρ ποιεῖται τῶν ἐν πλάτει αὐτῷ εἰρημένων) καί, ὥς φησιν ἡ συνήθεια, παρὰ τὸ ἐν χερσὶν ἔχειν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἡλιόδωρος, ποιήσας καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγχειρίδιον περὶ μέτρων, φησὶν ἀρχόμενος τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐν χερσὶν ἔχειν τὰ κεφαλαιωδέστατα τῆς μετρικῆς θεωρίας καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 397 (Ἐγχειρίδιον· παρὰ τὸ χείρ χειρός χειρίδιον καὶ ἐγχειρίδιον. σημαίνει δὲ βʹ· τὸ μικρὸν βιβλίον, καὶ γίνεται ὡς προείπομεν· σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τὸ μικρὸν ξίφος, καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἔγχος ἔγχεος ἐγχείδιον καὶ ἐγχειρίδιον, οἱονεὶ τὸ τοῦ ἔγχους ἴδιον); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 397 (<Ἐγχειρίδιον>· σημαίνει καὶ βιβλίον μικρὸν καὶ ξίφος· παρὰ γὰρ τὴν χειρί δοτικήν, ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἔγχει καὶ τὸ ἴδιον, οἱονεὶ τὸ ἴδιον τοῦ ἔγχους, κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ ρ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 313 (Ἐγχειρίδιον: Βιβλίον, ἢ ἕτερόν τι, ἢ ξίφος, ἢ ὄργανον τμητικόν. Παρὰ τὴν ἐν χειρὶ δοτικὴν ἐγχειρίδιον. Ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἔγχει δοτικὴν καὶ τὸ ἴδιον, ἐγχειρίδιον, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ρ, ἐγχειρίδιον, τὸ ἴδιον τοῦ ἔγχους); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 53 (Ἐγχειρίδιον· βιβλίον, ἢ ξίφος καὶ ὄργανον τμητικόν· παρὰ τὴν ἐν χειρὶ δοτικήν, ἐγχειρίδιον· ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἔγχει δοτικὴν καὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐγχειΐδιον καὶ ἐγχειρίδιον)

Modern etymology

Compound based on the prepositional phrase ἐν χειρίδι "in the sleeve"

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has εγχειρίδιο, meaning "poignard" and "manual"

Entry By

Le Feuvre