σπάω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
σπόγγος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
spongos
English translation (word)
sponge
Transliteration (Etymon)
spaō
English translation (etymon)
to draw
Century
2 AD
Reference
Peri orthographias, Lentz III/2, p. 408
Edition
A. Lentz, Grammatici graeci, vol. 3/2, Leipzig 1870
Source
Orion
Ref.
Etymologicum, sigma, p. 10
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
σπόγγος εἰ μὲν διὰ τοῦ π παρὰ τὸ σπᾶν τὰ ὑγρά, διὰ δὲ τοῦ φ παρὰ τὸ σφίγγειν κατὰ τὰς ἐκθλίψεις. οὕτως Ἡρωδιανός.
Translation (En)
Spongos "sponge": when spelled with a p, it comes from spân "to draw" humidity; and when spelled with a ph, it comes from sphingèin "to press", because of the squeezing out ‹of water›. This is what Herodian says.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 724 (same formulation); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 2, 436 (σπόγγος γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ σπῶ τὸ κατασπῶ, ὁ ἐσπασμένον ὄγγον ἔχων)
Modern etymology
The word is connected with Lat. fungus "mushroom" and Arm. sunk "mushroom, cork-tree", but has no PIE etymology and must be a loanword in those three languages (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Σπόγγος is still used in MG to designate: 1. The marine creature, 2. the object deriving from that creature. Modern Greek also has σφουγγάρι, deriving from σφογγάριον < σφόγγος < σπόγγος, giving derivatives (e.g., σφουγγαρίζω; Triandafyllidis, D. of MG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
In Orion's presentation, it is not clear whether Herodian endorsed only the second etymology (σφίγγω) or both. This etymology is interesting in so far as it explains the two variants of the word, σπόγγος and σφόγγος, through two different etymologies (both paronymic). The same principle is used to explain two different dialectal variants (see ἄρσην / ἔρδω). The sponge would be named properly σπόγγος “drawing (liquid)" when it absorbs water (functional etymology) and σφόγγος “squeezing" when, pressed, it expels water (descriptive etymology). A scholion to Oppian (see Parallels) seems to parse it as a compound of σπάω + ὄγκος "bulk" (ὁ ἐσπασμένον ὄγγον ἔχων "having a bulk resulting from absorption").