ῥᾴδιος + ζάω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ῥίζα
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
rhiza
English translation (word)
root
Transliteration (Etymon)
rhaidios + zaō
English translation (etymon)
easy + to live
Century
9 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, rho 10
Ed.
A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2] Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995
Quotation
ῥίζα (cf. Ι 542 alibi): δι’ ἧς ῥέει τὸ ζῆν ἄνω τοῖς δένδροις. ἢ διὰ τὸ ῥᾷον ζῆν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἵζω, τὸ καθέζομαι, ἵζα καὶ ῥίζα
Translation (En)
rhiza "root". Through which life flows upwards in the trees, or because it lives (zēn) easily (rhaion). Or from hizō "to sit", *hiza and rhiza
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Older *ϝρίζα, cf. Myc. wi-ri-za. Cognate with Lat. rādīx, Engl. root, Welsh gwraidd "roots" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology. The second member is assumed to be the verb "to live", and the first member is assumed to be the adverb ῥᾳδίως "easily", here provided under the form of the comparative ῥᾷον because the latter is easier to accommodate to the form of the lemma. In the etymology mentioned first, by ῥέω + ζάω, the root is active and makes the plant alive; in this etymology, if ζῆν has its regular intransitive meaning, the root is the subject and is alive itself — however, it could also be understood as "easily providing life"