χῶ
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
χώρα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
khōrā
English translation (word)
place, spot, land
Transliteration (Etymon)
khô
English translation (etymon)
to give room/way (χωρῶ)
Century
1 BC
Reference
fr. 208
Source
Orion
Ref.
Etymologicum, chi, p. 164
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Χώρα. ἡ κεχυμένη γῆ· ἡ παρὰ τὸ χῶ τὸ χωρῶ
Translation (En)
Khōrā "land": the poured earth, or from khô which means "to give room, to move" (khōrô)
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 174 (Ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν, ἡ εὐθεῖα, ἡ χώρα, παρὰ τὸ χῶ τὸ χωρῶ); Etym. Gudianum, khi p. 572 (Χώρα, παρὰ τὸ χῶ τὸ χωρῶ); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 696 Van der Valk (γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ χῶ, τὸ χωρῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ χώρα καὶ χωρίον, ὅθεν παράγωγον τὸ χάζω); Etym. Symeonis cod. V, ap. Gaisford Eym. Magnum 2277 A (χῶρος· παρὰ τὸ χῶ, τὸ χωρῶ. Φιλόξενος οὕτως)
Modern etymology
Χώρα is related to χωρέω. It may go back to a root *gheh1- "to leave behind" and be connected within Greek with χήρα "widow" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Χώρα is still used in Modern Greek to designate 1. a country, 2. the capital of a Greek island, 3. (with an adjective) a part of the body (e.g., καρδιακή χώρα), 4. all the inhabitants of a country (Triandaf, Dict. of MG).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology is typical of Philoxenus, deriving the noun from a monosyllabic verbform even though the latter, χῶ, is a ghost word. From the semantic point of view, the portion of land (χώρα) is defined as the space in which one can move (χωρέω)