ἄνω + ῥέπω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἄνθρωπος

Transliteration (Word)

anthrōpos

English translation (word)

man, human

Transliteration (Etymon)

anō + rhepō

English translation (etymon)

upwards + to incline, to be inclined

Author

Meletius

Century

9 AD?

Source

Idem

Ref.

De natura hominis 7.9

Ed.

J.A Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 3, Oxford: 1836

Quotation

τὸ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ὄνομα, παρὰ τὸ ἔναρθρον ἔχειν φωνήν· τῶν ἄλλων ζώων ἁπάντων ἀνάρθρως καὶ ἀσημάντως φωνούντων· τινὲς δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἀθρεῖν καὶ λογίζεσθαι ἅπερ ὄπωπε· τουτέστι παρὰ τὸ βλέπειν κατὰ νοῦν καὶ λογίζεσθαι τὰ δέοντα· τῶν ἄλλων ζώων μὴ προνοουμένων ἢ μὴ λογιζομένων· ἄλλοι δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἀνώθειν τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, ἤγουν ἄνω αἴρειν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ τὸ βλέπω, ἢ πράττω, ἄδρωπος καὶ ἄνθρωπος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω ῥέπειν, ἀνάροπός τις ὤν· “τὰ μὲν γὰρ τετράποδα,” φησὶν ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος, “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν βλέπει, καὶ “πρὸς τὴν γαστέρα νένευκεν· ἀνθρώπῳ δὲ ἄνω πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἡ “βλέψις, ὥστε μὴ σχολάζειν γαστρὶ, μηδὲ τοῖς ὑπὸ γαστέρα “πάθεσι”

Translation (En)

The word anthrōpos ("man") comes from the fact that he has an articulate (enarthron) voice, whereas all other animals utter non articulate and meaningless sounds. But some say it comes from the fact that he contemplates (athreîn) and counts what he sees, that is, from the fact that he sees intellectually and counts what is necessary, whereas the other animals do not anticipate or count. And others say it comes from the fact that he pushes his eye upwards (anōthein), that is, he raises it. Or it comes from drō, "to see", or "to achieve", *adrōpos, <as it were>, and anthrōpos. Or from the fact that he is inclined (rhepein) upwards (anō), an *anaropos, as it were: "the quadrupeds, says Basil the great, look on the ground and bend down toward their stomach, but man has his sight directed to heaven, so that he does not indulge in his belly or in the passions <seated> in the lower part of the belly"

Comment

The thēta is completly dropped in the interpretation. One may wonder whether the addition of a θ, not commented upon, might be analogical after the epenthetic consonant in cases like ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός (from *ἀνρός). Notice that the intermediate ghost form (*anaropos) occurs here with a single rhō (unlike in the manuscripts of Leo, see Parallels). From the semantic point of view, the analysis may seem weird since ῥέπω implies a downward move and cannot be used with ἄνω: however, the verb can also be used for the plate of a pair of scales going up when the other plate ῥέπει "goes down", hence by extension the meaning "to go up" on which this etymology relies

Parallels

Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 1 (πόθεν ἄνθρωπος; παρὰ τὸ ἔναρθρον ἔχειν φωνὴν [Ἠ] τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἀνάρθρως καὶ ἀσημάντως φωνούντων. καὶ ἄλλως· παρὰ τὸ ἀθρεῖν καὶ λογίζεσθαι, ἅπερ ὄπωπε, τουτέστιν ἅπερ βλέπει· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω βλέπειν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ, τὸ βλέπω, ἄδρωπος καὶ ἄνθρωπος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω ῥέπειν, ἀνάρροπος); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 147 ( Ἄνθρωπος· κατὰ Πλάτωνα <Cratyl. 399 c> παρὰ τὸ ἁθρεῖν καὶ λογίζεσθαι, ἅπερ ὄπωπε καὶ εἶδε, τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων μὴ λογιζομένων καὶ προνοουμένων· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἰχθὺς εἰς κύρτον εἰσῆλθεν ὁρῶν ἄλλον κρατούμενον, οὐδὲ ὄρνις εἰς λίνα. οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἀνακλῶ<ν>τα τὴν ὄψιν ἄνω ἀθρεῖν. τινὲς δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θρεῖν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔναρθρον ἔχειν ὄπα, τουτέστι φωνήν. ‖ καὶ ἄλλως. ἄνθρωπος, ὁ ἐνάρθρῳ ὀπὶ κεχρημένος· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁθρεῖν, ἃ ὄπωπε, καὶ λογίζεσθαι, τῶν ἀλόγων τοῦτο μὴ ἐχόντων· ἢ ἀνώροπός τις ὤν, ὅτι ἄνω ῥέπει); Etym Magnum, Kallierges p. 109 (Ἄνθρωπος: Παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θρεῖν, ἤγουν ἄνω βλέπειν· μόνος γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἄνω  βλέπει. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀναθρεῖν ἃ ὄπωπεν, ἤγουν ἀναλογίζεσθαι ἃ εἶδε καὶ ἤκουσε, τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων μὴ λογιζομένων καὶ προνοουμένων. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἰχθῦς εἰς κύρτον εἰσῆλθεν ὁρῶν ἄλλον κρατούμενον, οὐδὲ ὄρνις εἰς λίνα. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρῶ, τὸ βλέπω, ἄνδρωπος, καὶ ἄνθρωπος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω ῥέπειν, ἀνώροπός τις ὤν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔναρθρον ἔχειν τὴν ὄπα, τουτέστι τὴν φωνήν. Τὰ παρὰ τὸ ὄπα συγκείμενα, ἅπαντα διὰ τοῦ ω μεγάλου γράφονται· οἷον, μετώπιον, ἐνώπιον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀνθηρὰν ὄπα ἔχειν)

Modern etymology

Mycenaean a-to-ro-qo shows that the word has as its second element ops "sight, aspect" and not ops "voice". The identification of the first element of the compound remains debated. Beekes (EDG) thinks it is Pre-Greek

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is still used in MG with the meaning ‘man’, primarily denoting the superior rank of mammals, having as attributes the standing position, reason and articulated language, by distinguishing mankind from other animals (Triandafyllidis, Dict. of MG)

Entry By

Arnaud Zucker