ἀ + κάμνω
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English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
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Quotation
ἀκμή· παρὰ τὸ κμῶ, ὅ ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ κάμω συγκοπέν, καὶ μετὰ τῆς α στερήσεως ἀκμή· ἡ μὴ κάμνουσα ταχέως
Translation (En)
Akmē "highest point" is from *kmô, which comes from kamō {to toil{ through syncope, and with the privative prefix a- one obtains akmē, that which does not get weary quickly.
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, alpha p. 20 (idem); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 337 (ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάμω γέγονε κατὰ συγκοπὴν κμῶ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ α ἀκμή, ἡ μὴ κάμνουσα διὰ νεότητα ἢ πόνους μὴ δυναμένη ὑποστῆναι, with a mistake in the last line, μὴ δυναμένη instead of δυναμένη, which amounts to saying the opposite); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha p. 105 (idem, with the same mistake); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, alpha 46 (παρὰ τὸ κμῶ, τὸ κοπιῶ, γίνεται κμή καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ α ἀκμή, ἡ μὴ ταχέως κάμνουσα καὶ κοπιῶσα, ἀλλὰ φέρειν κόπους δυναμένη); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 49 (idem), p. 65; Etym. Gudianum, alpha p. 91 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha p. 66 (Ἀκμαία· παρὰ τὸ μὴ κάμνειν εὐχερῶς); Etym. Gudianum, alpha p. 66 (Ἀκμή· παρὰ τὸ μὴ κάμνειν διὰ νεότητα· ἔνθεν καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἀκάμας παρὰ τὸ ἀεὶ νέον εἶναι τὸν θεόν); Etym. Gudianum, kappa p. 331 (κνῶ τὸ κάμπτω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀκμὴ ἡ μὴ κάμνουσα, κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ α· καὶ ἄκμων, ὁ μὴ κάμνων); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1 p. 218, 312; Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.46.
Comment
This etymology starts from the meaning "youth", "flower of age", which is a frequent use of ἀκμή (metaphorical sense). From there the word is, as often, parsed as a privative compound of a root related to κάμνω "to get weary". The monosyllabic verb *κμῶ is a ghost-word representing the common stem to words of the same family, typical of Philoxenus' method. Of course this etymology is less suited for what is for us the primary meaning of ἀκμή, "point, edge". This etymology was widely repeated in Antiquity.