χέω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

χάος

Transliteration (Word)

khaos

English translation (word)

chaos

Transliteration (Etymon)

kheō

English translation (etymon)

to pour

Author

Zeno of Citium

Century

4/3 BC

Reference

fr. 103

Edition

J. von Arnim, Stoicorum veterum fragmenta, vol. 1, Leipzig, 1903

Source

Valerius Probus

Ref.

In Virgilii Eclogas VI, 31

Ed.

H. Keil, Grammatici latini, Vol. 4, Leipzig, 1864

Quotation

Nam Zenon Citieus sic interpretatur, aquam χάος appellatum ἀπὸ τοῦ χέεσθαι

Translation (En)

Since Zeno of Citium understands it thus, tat water was called "chaos" (khaos) from the fact that "it is poured" (kheesthai)

Comment

Paronymic etymology relying on the philosophical conception that the primordial element is water, which was the theory of Stoics. As Hesiod says Chaos is the beginning of everything, Chaos was identified with water through this derivation. The formal aspect of the etymology (change of [e] to [a]) is not commented upon

Parallels

Chrysippus, fr. 564 von Arnim, ap. Schol. vetera in Hesiodi Theogoniam 116 (οἱ δὲ εἰρῆσθαί φασι χάος παρὰ τὸ χεῖσθαι, ὅ ἐστι χέεσθαι· οἱ δέ φασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ χαδεῖν, ὅ ἐστι χωρεῖν); idem, fr. 436 von Arnim, ap. Philo, De incorrupt. mundi 225, 5 (Χάος δ’ ὁ μὲν Ἀριστοτέλης τόπον οἴεται εἶναι, ὅτι τὸ δεξόμενον ἀνάγκη προϋποκεῖσθαι σώματι, τῶν δὲ Στωϊκῶν ἔνιοι τὸ ὕδωρ, παρὰ τὴν χύσιν τοὔνομα πεποιῆσθαι νομίζοντες; Cornutus, De natura deorum p. 28 (ἔστι δὲ Χάος μὲν τὸ πρὸ τῆς διακοσμήσεως γενόμενον ὑγρόν, ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως οὕτως ὠνομασμένον, ἢ τὸ πῦρ, ὅ ἐστιν οἱονεὶ κάος)); Plutarch, Mor. 955e (συμφωνεῖ δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδος εἰπὼν (Th 116) ‘ἤτοι μὲν πρώτιστα χάος γένετο’· τοῖς πλείστοις γὰρ ὠνομακέναι δοκεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον παρὰ τὴν χύσιν); Achilles Tatius Astron., Isagoga excerpta 3 (Θαλῆς δὲ ὁ Μιλήσιος καὶ Φερεκύδης ὁ Σύριος (p. 39 Sturz) ἀρχὴν τῶν ὅλων τὸ ὕδωρ ὑφίστανται, ὃ δὴ καὶ χάος καλεῖ ὁ Φερεκύδης, ὡς εἰκός, τοῦτο ἐκλεξάμενος παρὰ τοῦ Ἡσιόδου οὕτω λέγοντος (Th. 116) ‘ἤτοι μὲν πρώτιστα χάος γένετο’· παρὰ γὰρ τὸ χεῖσθαι (ὑπολαμβάνει) τὸ ὕδωρ χάος ὠνόμασται "Thales of Milet and Pherecydes of Syros take water as the beginning of all things, which Pherecydes calls ‘chaos’, as it is natural, taking it from Hesiod who says "and first of all Chaos came into being"; he assumes that water was named chaos because it is poured"); Hesychius, Lexicon, khi 168 (χάος· χώρησις. καὶ τὸ κενὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κεχύσθαι. ἢ σκότος); Damascius, De principiis vol. 1, p. 313 (εἰ καὶ χεόμενόν πως εἰς χάος ὡς ἀληθῶς); Schol. recentiora in Aristophanis Nubes 424a (τὸ Χάος] ἤγουν τὸν ἀέρα, παρὰ τὸ κεχύσθαι)

Modern etymology

Probably derived from the root found in χάσκω "to gape" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre