ἀκή
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἄκος, κυρίως τὸ, σιδήρῳ θεραπεύεις εἰς ἀκὴν ἀποξυμμένῳ· ἔνθεν καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν Φρύγες ἀκεστὴν λέγουσι
Translation (En)
Akos "remedy" means properly the fact that you cure with a blade sharpened (apoksummenōi) until it is a point (eis akēn). And this is why the Phrygians call the physician akestēs
Parallels
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 353 (Ἄκος· ἡ θεραπεία· παρὰ τὴν ἀκήν, ἀκή γὰρ κυρίως ἡ ὀξύτης τοῦ σιδήρου, καὶ ἡ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ θεραπεία ἄκος λέγεται· ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν οἱ Φρύγες ἀκεστὴν λέγουσιν. οὕτως Ὠρίων. ἐγὼ δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἄχος φημὶ ἄκος, ἵν’ ᾖ τὸ τὴν λύπην ἰώμενον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 51 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 70 (Ἄκος· κυρίως ἡ διὰ σιδήρου θεραπεία· παρὰ τὸ ἀκή, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν ὀξύτητα, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀκωκή, ἢ τὸ τῆς ἀκμῆς τοῦ ξίφους ἴαμα); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.23 (ἄκος· θεραπεία ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀκὴ ἡ ὀξύτης τοῦ βέλους ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἰατρῶν τῶν κοπτόντων τὰ σεσημμένα μέλη τῶν πληγῶν μετὰ τοῦ σιδήρου)
Comment
The etymology relies on the homophony between two roots, ἀκ- "point" (ἀκή) and ἀκ- "cure", which are unrelated. Etymology, "to cure" is /hak/ with initial aspiration warranted by compounds ἐφακέομαι, ἀφακέομαι in dialect inscriptions. The Attic form ἄκος "remedy", ἀκέομαι "to cure" is probably borrowed from Ionic, where psilosis is regular. For Greek scholars, however, all those forms did belong together (and some of them sometimes included ἀκήν "silently" which is not related). The etymology explaining ἄκος through ἀκή applies to one type of cure, a surgical cure implying the use of a surgical tool: this is what is meant by κυρίως "properly", implying that the word is used improperly for other cures