σχέθω

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Fri, 09/10/2021 - 12:30

Word-form

σκότος

Transliteration (Word)

skotos

English translation (word)

darkness

Transliteration (Etymon)

skhethō

English translation (etymon)

to hold back, to retain

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Peri Pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 380

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici Graeci III/2, Leipzig 1870

Source

Orion

Ref.

Etymologicum, sigma, p. 147

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820

Quotation

(Orion): Σκότος. ἀπὸ τοῦ σκιάζειν ὠνομᾶσθαι. οἱ δὲ φασὶν ὅτι σκοπὸς ἐστί. ὅτι δεῖ προσκοπεῖσθαι τὸν προερχόμενον ἐν αὐτῷ· οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης. ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς παρὰ τὸ σκέθειν ἡμᾶς, ὅτι ἐπέχει πολλάκις προϊέναι

Translation (En)

Skotos "darkness" was named after skiazein "to shade". Others say it is from skopos "watcher", because the one who walks in darkness must watch before, this is what Heraclides says. But Herodian says it comes from the verb "to hold back" (skethein), because it often holds us back from moving forward

Comment

This etymology seeks to explain the word through one of the effects darkness has on man, a diurnal animal, relating it to the root of ἔχω "to hold". In that case, σκότος is referred to the derivative σχέθω, a Homeric and poetic verb, originally an aorist, meaning “to hold” or “to push back”. From the formal point of view, it relies on the alternation between e grade and o grade: σχέθω / σκότος as λέγω / λόγος, and implies a change of the aspirate stops into non aspirate ones. Orion here has the rare spelling σκέθειν displaying aspirate dissimilation, but other sources have the usual σχέθειν (see Parallels). This σκέθειν with dissimilation may be intended as an intermediate step between σχέθειν and σκότος with non aspirate [k]. This etymology gave rise to an etymology ex antonymo for αὐγή (see αὐγή / ἄγω)

Parallels

Orion, Etymologicum, excerpta e cod. regio Paris. 2630 (Σκότος· ἀπὸ τοῦ σκιάζειν ὠνόμασται. οἱ δὲ φασὶν, ὅτι σκοπός ἐστι· δεῖ προσκοπεῖσθαι τὸν προερχόμενον ἐν αὐτῷ. οὕτως Ἡρωδιανός. οἱ δὲ, παρὰ τὸ σχέθειν ἡμᾶς, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπισχεῖν, προϊέναι πολλάκις, that is the same notice but with a different attribution of the etymologies to the authors); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 719 (idem); Orion, Etymologicum, alpha, p. 28 (σκότος παρὰ τὸ σχέθειν ἡμᾶς); Philoponus, In Aristotelis Categorias commentarium, vol. 13, 1, p. 180 (ὥσπερ τὸ σκότος παρὰ τὸ σκιάζειν εἴρηται ἡ δὲ σκιὰ ἐπιπρόσθησίς ἐστι φωτός, ἥτις ἐν τῷ ἀέρι ἢ ἁπλῶς ἐν τῷ διαφανεῖ συμβαίνει, ἤ, ὡς Ἡρωδιανός φησι, παρὰ τὸ σχέθειν· ἐπέχει γὰρ ἡμῶν τὸ εἰδέναι ἢ τῶν προόδων καὶ τῶν πολλῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἐπιχείρησις); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 120 (τὸ δὲ σκότος παρὰ τὸ σχέθω, τὸ κωλύω); Etym. Gudianum, sigma, p. 504 (idem); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1385 (σκότος δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἐπισχέσθαι ἡμᾶς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 168 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 231 (σκότος διὰ τὸ ἐπισχεῖν ἡμᾶς); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, sigma, p. 1655 (Σκότος. ἀπὸ τοῦ σκιάζειν. Ἡρακλείδης δὲ ὁ Ποντικὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ προσκόπτειν τὸν πορευόμενον ἐν αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς παρὰ τὸ σχέθειν ἡμᾶς. ὅ ἐστιν ἐπισχεῖν ἡμᾶς πολλάκις προϊέναι)

Modern etymology

The word has a match in Germanic (Gothic skadus "shadow") and Celtic (Old Irish scáth "shadow"). PIE *skoto- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Σκότος is preserved as a learned word, next to the usual one σκοτάδι

Entry By

Le Feuvre