ἄνω + ἐράω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀνήρ
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
anēr
English translation (word)
man (male)
Transliteration (Etymon)
anō + eraō
English translation (etymon)
upwards + to love
Century
12 AD
Source
Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam
Ref.
Scholion 7
Ed.
A. Ludwich, Die Homerische Batrachomyomachia des Karers Pigres: nebst Scholien und Paraphrase, Leipzig: Teubner, 1896: 198-308
Quotation
ἐτυμολογεῖται δὲ ἀνήρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄνω, ἀφ’ οὗ γίνεται ἀνύω τὸ τελειῶ κατὰ παραγωγήν· ἀνυτικὸς γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ πρακτικώτερος γυναικός· ἤ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Θεσσαλονίκης, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄνω ἐρᾶν
Translation (En)
The etymology of anēr "man" is anō ("to accomplish"), from which is derived anuō "to achieve", because man is apt to achieve and more active than a woman. Or, as the Thessalonician says, it comes from "to love (erân) what is upwards (anō)"
Modern etymology
PIE name of the "man", also found in Vedic nara- "man", Lat. Nerō, PIE *h2ner- (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG has the Medieaval form "άντρας" (Kriaras Dictionary of Medieaval Vernacular Greek, vol. 1), from the old accusative ἄνδρα). The stems ανδρ- and αντρ- are preserved in many compounds, such as "ανδροκρατία", "αντρογυναίκα" etc.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology is not preserved in what survives from Eustathius' works. It looks like a christian alternative to the standard etymology: man is so called because he loves the heavenly goods (referred to by ἄνω "upwards"), and is defined through his spirituality. The etymology follows the rules of Cratylean etymology, parsing the word as a compound, and seeks to account for the -ēr of ἀνήρ, which received no special explanation in the standard etymology. The scholion to the Batrachomyomachia which transmits this etymology is by Manuel Moschopoulos (end of the 13th c. - beg. of the 14th c.)