ἀνά + πελάζω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἄμπελος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ampelos
English translation (word)
grapevine
Transliteration (Etymon)
ana- + pelazō
English translation (etymon)
upwards + to come near
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum alpha p. 10
Ed.
F.W.Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818
Quotation
Ἄμπελος, παρὰ τὸ ἄνω πελάζειν· οἷον ἀνάπελός τις οὖσα
Translation (En)
Ampelos "grapevine" is from "to come near (pelazein) upwards (anō)", as though it were *anapelos
Parallels
Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, alpha 179 (ἐκ τοῦ ἄμπελος· τοῦτο ἀνάπελός τις οὖσα παρὰ τὸ ἄνω πελάζειν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἔχειν τὸν πηλόν, ἤγουν τὸν οἶνον); Etym. Gudianum, alpha p. 117 (idem) ; ibid. alpha p. 117 (Ἄμπελος· παρὰ τὸ ἄμπελος· πηλὸς γὰρ ὁ οἶνος, διὰ τοῦ ποιεῖν πάλλειν καὶ πηδᾶν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω πελάζειν, ἀνάπελός τις οὖσα, καὶ συγκοπῇ καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ἀμεταβόλου εἰς ἀμετάβολον ἄμπελος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 86 (idem)
Modern etymology
Unknown
Persistence in Modern Greek
Ἀμπελος is preserved in the learned language and as the scientific name of the grapevine. The usual word form is αμπέλι (neuter)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The word is parsed as a compound having as its first element the syncopated form of the preverb ἀνα, ἀν- or ἀμ-, which was familiar to Greek scholars because it is usual in the epic language and found in several dialects. There is no verb *ἀναπελάζω, and this is why the word is glossed by means of the adverb ἄνω, although as the reconstructed ghost-form *ἀνάπελος shows, the etymon involved is ἀνα- and not ἄνω. This is a descriptive etymology: in vineyards, grapevine is cultivated on stakes which help it grow "upwards"