ῥαίω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ῥάβδος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
rhabdos
English translation (word)
stick, staff
Transliteration (Etymon)
rhaiō
English translation (etymon)
to break, to wreck
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, rho, p. 489
Ed.
F. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973)
Quotation
Ῥᾷβδος, παρὰ τὸ ῥάω τὸ φθείρω, ἐκβολῇ τοῦ ι ῥᾶβδος, προσγραφομένου τοῦ ἰῶτα.
Translation (En)
Rhabdos "stick". From rhaō "to destroy", by dropping of the iota, rhabdos, with the iota adscript
Modern etymology
Unknown (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology, devised for the meaning "staff", "rod" rather than for the meaning "stick". The staff is a tool for breaking. Functional etymology. The interesting point is the explanation about the iota: it is assumed to have been dropped, and then added in spelling only (this account for the spelling ῥᾴβδος)