ἀρέσκω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἀρητῆρα

Transliteration (Word)

arētēr

English translation (word)

priest

Transliteration (Etymon)

areskō

English translation (etymon)

to please, to conciliate

Author

Epimerismi homerici

Century

9 AD ?

Source

Idem

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici Iliad 1, 11c1

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici, pars prior epimerismos continens qui ad Iliadis librum Α pertinent [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.1] Berlin: De Gruyter, 1983: 55-256

Quotation

ἀρητῆρα: παρὰ τὴν ἀράν, ἀράτης, τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς η Ἰωνικῇ. ἀρατήρ δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ, ἀρᾷς, ἀράσω, ἀρατήρ, ἢ παρὰ τὸ αἴρω, τὸ κουφίζω, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρέσκειν Θεῷ

Translation (En)

Arētēra "priest": from ara "prayer", aratēs, with the Ionic change of [a] into [ē]. The word aratēr comes from araō "to pray", future arasō, hence arētēr, or from airō "to lift"", or from areskein "to please" God.

Comment

This is a functional etymology (the function of the priest is to please the god and to conciliate him). It may take as a starting point the perfect ἀρήρεκα which provides the required sequence [arē], but that remains implicit. This etymology probably goes back to a time when distinctive vowel quantity was lost in Greek, since the poetic word ἀρητήρ has a long ᾱ whereas ἀρέσκω has a short ᾰ

Parallels

Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1163 (Ἀρητήρ· ὁ ἱερεύς· παρὰ τὰς ἀράς, ἃς ποιεῖται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αἴρειν τὰς χεῖρας εἰς ὕψος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρέσκειν θεῷ); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha p. 192 (Ἀρητήρ· ὁ ἱερεύς. παρὰ τὸν ῥήσω μέλλοντα· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρᾶσθαι, ὅ ἐστιν εὔχεσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αἴρειν τὰς χεῖρας εἰς προσευχήν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρέσκειν θεῷ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 140 (Ἀρητήρ: Ὁ ἱερεύς· παρὰ τὰς ἀρὰς ἃς ποιεῖται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αἴρειν τὰς χεῖρας εἰς ὕψος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρέσκειν θεῷ· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ ἀρᾷς, ἀράσω, ἀρατὴρ, καὶ ἀρητὴρ Ἰωνικῶς, τροπῇ τοῦ ἄλφα εἰς η); Geneva scholia Il. 1, 11 ([ἀρητῆρα] ἀρητὴρ δὲ παρὰ τὸ αἴρειν τὰς χεῖρας εἰς εὐχήν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀρέσκειν)

Modern etymology

Ἀρητήρ is the regular agent noun derived from ἀράομαι

Persistence in Modern Greek

Νο. Αρά still exists as a learned word meaning the same as κατάρα "malediction"

Entry By

Le Feuvre