λίθος
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
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Ed.
Quotation
Ἠλίθιος: Ὁ ἀνόητος καὶ μωρός· παρὰ τὸ ἅλιον, τὸ μάταιον. Ἐκ τοῦ ἅλιος οὖν, ἀλίϊος· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ θ, ἀλίθιος καὶ ἠλίθιος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἤλιθα ἐπίρρημα, ὁ πάντα χύδην ποιῶν, καὶ ἀδιακρίτως. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ λίθος, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ α. Ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἅλα
Translation (En)
ēlithios "foolish". The fool and stupid one. From halion "in vain". From halios "vain", so, *haliïos, and by addition of /th/, *alithios and ēlithios. Or from the adverb ēlitha "exceedingly", the one doing everything in a mess and without judgement. Or from lithos "stone", by addition of /a/. Or from hals "sea"
Parallels
Implicit etymology or wordplay: Clemens Alexandrinus, Proptrepticus 10.97.3 (ἠλίθιοι τῶν λίθων δημιουργοί τε καὶ προσκυνηταί); Eusebius, Commentarius in Isaiam 2.50.305-306 (πυρὸς γὰρ ταῦτα ἀποβρώματα, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ λίθων, τοῦτ’ ἔστι ψυχῶν ἠλιθίων, ἔσται σοι χρεία); Didymus Caecus, Contra Manichaeos, MPG 39, p. 1105 ( λίθους δὲ λέγων τοὺς ἠλιθίους, καὶ ἔτι ἐμμένοντας τῇ κακίᾳ ἀνθρώπους); Didymus Caecus, Fragmenta in Psalmos (e commentario altero) 906 (ἔστι δὲ ὁ λίθος εἰς ὃν προσκόπτουσιν οἱ μὴ μετεωριζόμενοι ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων ἠλίθιος καὶ σκληρωτάτη ἁμαρτία); Procopius, Commentarii in Isaiam, p. 2633 ((Ταῦτα γὰρ ὕλη πυρὸς) ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ λίθων, τοῦτ’ ἔστι ψυχῶν ἠλιθίων); Joannes Antiochenus, Fragmenta ex historia chronica 11.10 (Οἱ παρ’ Ἀμφίονος θελγόμενοι λίθοι ἠλίθιοί τινες ἦσαν ἀκροαταί); Georgius Syncellus, Ecloga chronographica, p. 183 (Ἀμφίων Θηβῶν ἐβασίλευσεν, ὡς ἄλλοι· οὗτος ἐμυθεύετο κιθαρίζων θέλγειν τοὺς λίθους, οὓς εὐλόγως ὑποληπτέον ἠλιθίους τινὰς ἀνθρώπους)
Comment
Derivational etymology, relying on the formal proximity between the two words and the idea that the idle or stupid man (ἠλίθιος) is similar to a stone. The etymology is for the first time explicit in the Et. Magnum. However, it is probably much older. The Christian authors in particular commonly use the metaphor of the fools that are similar to stones. In these texts one cannot always tell what is an implicit etymology and what is a mere wordplay. At any rate, the etymology by "stone" is also indirectly attested in the Suda (see ἠλίθιος / ἠλιθιάζω), where the derivational chain is λίθος "stone" → ἠλιθιάζω "to be like a stone" → ἠλίθιος "stupid"