ἀκή
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀκόνη
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
akonē
English translation (word)
whetstone
Transliteration (Etymon)
akē
English translation (etymon)
point
Century
1 BC
Reference
fr. 424
Edition
C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2], Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976
Source
Orion
Ref.
Etymologicum, alpha, p. 24
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon. Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
ἀκόνη· παρὰ τὴν ἀκήν, τὴν ὀξύτητα.
Translation (En)
Akonē "whetstone" comes from akē "point", meaning sharpness.
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, alpha, p. 22 (Ἀκόνη, παρὰ τὴν ἀκμὴν καὶ τὴν ὀξύτητα); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 345 (ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἀκήν, τὴν ὀξύτητα); Etym. Symeonis vol. 1, p. 224 (ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἀκήν, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν ὀξύτητα)
Modern etymology
Derived from the root ἀκ- "to be sharp / pointed" found in ἄκρος, ἄκων, ἀκή, ἀκμή and many others (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Modern Greek still has ακόνι to designate the tool with which we sharpen. See also the derivatives ακονίζω "to sharpen", ακόνισμα, ακονιστήρι, ακονιστής, ακόνιστος (Triandafyllidis, Dict. of Modern Greek).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This is basically the correct etymology in so far as ἀκόνη is not directly derived from ἀκή but both are derived from the same root ἀκ- "to be pointed". The etymology is not explicit in terms of morphological analysis.