βία + ῥέω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
βορρᾶς
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
boreas
English translation (word)
North wind
Transliteration (Etymon)
bia + rheō
English translation (etymon)
force + to flow
Century
5 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. ρεγιο 2610) 58
Ed.
G.H.K. Koës, Orionis Thebani etymologicon (ed. F.G. Sturz), Leipzig: Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Βορρᾶς: ἴσως διὰ τὸ βίᾳ ῥεῖν καὶ ῥάσσεσθαι.
Translation (En)
Borras "North wind": maybe because if flows (rhein) and beats with force (biāi)
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, beta, p. 279 (Βοὴν βιαίαν βορέας πέμπει ῥέωνΒορρᾶς· ὁ ἄνεμος· ἴσως διὰ τὸ βίᾳ [αἴρειν ἤγουν] ῥεῖν ἢ ῥάσσεσθαι. ‖ ἢ παρὰ τὸ εὐβορώτατα τὰ σώματα ἡμῶν ποιεῖν καὶ ἰσχυρότατα); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 36 (Βοὴν βιαίαν βορέας πέμπει ῥέων)
Modern etymology
Cognate with Skt. girí-, Av. gairi-, Slavic gora "mountain, Lith, gìrė "wood" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has βορράς "North"
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology, referring to a characteristic feature of the North wind, its strength. The starting point is probably the second member, ῥέω, which was easy to identify in βο-ρέας. Then a first member had to be identified, and βία could be assumed to be a plausible etymon. The etymology requires a change of /i/ to /o/