ἀραρίσκω + χνόος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀράχνιον
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
arakhnion
English translation (word)
spider web
Transliteration (Etymon)
arariskō + khnoos
English translation (etymon)
to adapt + flock, down
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1107
Ed.
F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976
Quotation
Ἀράχνια θ 280· τὰ ὑφάσματα τῆς ἀράχνης, οἷον "ἠΰτ’ ἀράχνια λεπτά·". παρὰ τὴν ἀραιότητα, ὅ ἐστι λεπτότητα· ἀραιόν γὰρ τὸ λεπτόν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀράσσω ἀράχνιον, ὡς δέμω δέμνιον, παίζω παίγνιον· ἤγουν τὸ εὔσχιστον. ἢ τὸ ἐνηρμοσμένον· χνοῦς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνηρμοσμένος καὶ ἀνυφανθείς
Translation (En)
Arakhnia "spider webs", as in "as thin spiderwebs". It comes from their slenderness (araiotēta), that is, their thinness, since araion "slender" means lepton "thin". Or from arassō "to smite", arakhnion, as from demō "to build" demnion "bed, mattress", from paizō "tp play" paignion "toy" ; that means the one easy to tear up. Or the one which is "fitted into", because the "down" is that which is fitted into and not woven
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha p. 302 (idem)
Modern etymology
Ἀράχνιον is derived from ἀράχνη "spider" (q.v.).
Persistence in Modern Greek
Modern Greek has the adjective αραχνοΰφαντος for fabrics, which means 'extremely subtle, woven with the artistry of a spider' (Triandafyllidis, Dict. of Modern Greek).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology is not explicit in the Etym. Genuinum. The word is understood as "down / flock fitted into", that is, a compound from χνοῦς and ἀραρίσκω "to adapt", which provides the first two syllables ἀρα- – the word is glossed through ἐναρμόζω "to fit into" (ἐνηρμοσμένον) which belongs to the same root. This is a mere paronymic etymology. It is interesting in so far as it is never found for ἀράχνη "spider", that is, Greek etymologists provide for ἀράχνιον and ἀράχνη etymologies which can fit (according to their criteria) only one word and not both words. The same insensitivity to derivation is also found in the alternative etymology for ἀράχνιον (see ἀράχνιον / ἀράσσω).