ἄνω + θέω

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Last modification

Fri, 10/21/2022 - 15:25

Word-form

ἄνθος

Transliteration (Word)

anthos

English translation (word)

flower

Transliteration (Etymon)

anō + theō

English translation (etymon)

upwards + to run

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Reference

Etymologicum, alpha p. 2

Edition

F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820

Source

Etym. Genuinum

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum, alpha 882

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976

Quotation

Ἄνθος· παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θεῖν καὶ τρέχειν ἐν τῷ αὔξεσθαι. οὐκ ἀναστρέφουσι δὲ αἱ ἐτυμολογίαι· <οὐ γὰρ εἴ τι ἄνω θεῖ καὶ αὔξεται, τοῦτο καὶ ἄνθος λέγεται. ἰδοὺ γὰρ πάντα τὰ φυτὰ ἄνω θέουσι καὶ αὔξουσιν, καὶ ὅμως ἄνθη οὐ λέγονται. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἔλαφος παρὰ τὸ ἐλαύνειν τοὺς ὄφεις εἴρηται, ὅπερ ποιεῖ τούτου τὸ κέρας θυμιώμενον· καὶ οὐκ, εἴ τι τοῦτο †ποιοῦν, τοῦτο καὶ ἔλαφος λέγεται·> ἡ γὰρ δίκταμος βοτάνη καιομένη τοῦτο ποιεῖ, καὶ οὐδέποτε ἂν κληθείη ἔλαφος. οὕτως Ὠρίων ὁ Θηβαῖος

Translation (En)

Anthos "flower" comes from "to run" (theîn) and rush (trekhein) "upwards" (anō) in its growth. The etymologies don't work both ways: <as a matter of fact, it is not the case that, if something runs and grows upwards, that thing is also called anthos "flower". And notice that every plant runs and grows upwards, and nevertheless they are not called anthē "flowers". Similarly, the word elaphos "deer" is so named from the fact that it repells (elaunein) snakes (opheis), which is what its horn does, when it is burned. And it is not the case that, if some other thing does that, it is also called elaphos,> for the dictamnus, when it is burned, has this power, and it would never be called elaphos. This is what Orion of Thebes says

Comment

This descriptive etymology parses the word either as a compound of anō "upwards" + theō "to run", which is found in the oldest testimonies, or as a derivative from anatheō "to run upwards", found in later testimonies (see Parallels). In either case it implies only one formal manipulation, a syncope of the vowel of the adverb ἄνω or the preverb ἀνα-. Orion's formulation is truncated and is restored here after the Etym. Genuinum. The interesting part is the comment stressing the fact that the relationship between lemma and etymon is oriented and works only in one direction: the lemma is aptly described by the etymon which reveals its features, but the same etymon cannot be assumed for other words referring to objects with the same features as the lemma. This is probably an answer to critics of the naturalistic theory: in the framework of the latter, if a noun reflects the features and properties of the object, then any object having the same properties and features should bear the same name and the relationship should be bijective, which obviously is not the case. This objection is addressed by stressing the fact that the etymological relationship is asymmetrical: if A is large and named after that feature, that does not imply that every large object will be named A, as a large object B can be named after a different feature, for instance its color rather than its size. See also ἄνηθον / ἄνω + θέω and λείριον / λεῖος.

An interesting comment is found in the Etym. Genuinum, lambda 169 (s.v. λείριον): λέγει δὲ καὶ Ὦρος ὅτι οὐ τῶν ἀνθῶν δεῖ λέγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀνθέων, διὰ τὴν συνέμπτωσιν τοῦ ἀνθ’ ὧν ἐπιρρήματος, ὅπερ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀντὶ προθέσεως καὶ τοῦ ὧν ὑποτακτικοῦ ἄρθρου γέγονεν "Orus says that you must not say τῶν ἄνθων "of the flowers" [Gen.plural], but τῶν ἀνθέων because of the confusion with the adverb ἄνθ᾽ ὧν "instead of which", which is formed out of the preposition ἀντί and the postpositive article [that is to say, relative pronoun] ὧν." The homophony between the prepositional phrase and the inflected noun led some grammarians to condemn the usual and regular pronunciation of the latter in favor of its Ionic variant ἀνθέων

Parallels

See Orion, Etymologicon, alpha 611 (ἄνθος, παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θεῖν); Anastasius Sin., Viae dux 2, 4, l. 167 (βοτάνη κατὰ τὸ βαδίζειν ἄνω· ὥσπερ καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τοῦ ἄνω θέειν ἤτοι τρέχειν); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 157 (τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἄνθος, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θέειν); ibid. p. 172 (παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θέειν); Etym. Gudianum, beta p. 146 (τὸ δὲ ἄνθος παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θεῖν, ὅ ἐστι τρέχειν· πᾶν γὰρ ἄνθος ἄνω τρέχει· ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἄνηθον, καὶ γράφεται διὰ τοῦ η); ibid. p. 280 (ὥσπερ καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τοῦ ἄνω θέειν, ἤτοι τρέχειν); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon p. 484 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 108 (same formulation as Etym. Genuinum); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha p. 191 (idem); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 61 (idem); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 476 (ἄνθος δὲ φανέν, ᾧ φύσις θέειν ἅμα ); Scholia in Theocritum vetera (Wendel), 7, 63b (τινὲς δὲ καὶ πᾶν ἄνθος ἄνηθον παρὰ τὸ ἄνω θέειν)

Variant ἀναθέω: Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, alpha 369 (ἐκ τούτου γίνεται ἀναθέω καὶ συγκοπῇ ἀνθέω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἄνθος); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 267 Van der Valk (ἄνθος ἐκ τοῦ ἀναθέειν συγκοπέν)

Modern etymology

No absolutely clear cognate in other Indo-European languages. However, the word is probably inherited, one may reconstruct *h2endh- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word survives in MG to designate: 1. "flower" (along with "λουλούδι"), 2. the plant's part for reproduction, 3. (metaph.) "the best part of anything", 4. "thin layer on a surface. MG also has the synonym "ανθός" and "ανθο-" survives in many compounds.

Entry By

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