ἄχος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἄκος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
akos
English translation (word)
remedy, cure
Transliteration (Etymon)
akhos
English translation (etymon)
pain
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 353
Ed.
F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976
Quotation
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.
Translation (En)
Akos "remedy" is the cure, from akē "point": akē means properly the sharpers of the iron (blade), and the cure which comes from it is called akos. This is why the Phrygians call the physician akestēs. This is what Orion says. But I say that akos "remedy" comes from akhos "pain", so that it is that which cures pain.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 51 (idem); Etym. Symeonis 1, p. 228 (idem)
Modern etymology
The root of "to cure" was originally ἁκ-, probably from *Hiak- if Mycenaean ja-ke-te-re is for *ἁκεστῆρες. No etymology.
Persistence in Modern Greek
Άκος does not survive in Modern Greek. The only word which is used from the root ακ- in contemporary Greek is ανήκεστος, which means 'the one that can't be cured' (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymology implies a phonetic manipulation, the loss of aspiration of the velar plosive [kh] > [k]. From the point of view of Greek scholars, this was a minimal manipulation, of a very usual type (and backed by the many instances of aspirate dissimilation in Greek, at least according to their understanding). The etymology belongs to the enantiosemic type, since the word is named after its opposite: remedy suppresses pain.