αὐλός

Validation

Yes

Word-form

καυλός

Transliteration (Word)

kaulos

English translation (word)

stem of a plant

Transliteration (Etymon)

aulos

English translation (etymon)

pipe, tube

Author

Meletius

Century

9 AD?

Source

Idem

Ref.

De natura hominis, p. 112

Ed.

J.A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1835 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)

Quotation

καυλὸς δὲ, ὡς ἐπίμηκες· πᾶν γὰρ ἐπίμηκες αὐλός· προσθέσει οὖν τοῦ κ, καυλός

Translation (En)

Kaulos ("stem" of a plant), because it is long, and everything which is long is an aulos "pipe, tube". Therefore, with a prothetic [k], kaulos

Comment

Descriptive paronymic etymology relying on the phonetic similarity and the similarity in shape, as the stem is long and cylindrical like a pipe (and indeed some stems can be used as pipes). It implies one formal manipulation, a prothetic consonant

Parallels

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, kappa 152 (κνέφας […] οἱ μὲν κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ φάους νέφας καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ κ, ὡς ἐν τῷ κτύπος καὶ καυλός, κνέφας); Etym. Gudianum, kappa p. 308 (Καυλὸς, τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ δόρατος, ὃ εἰς τὸ ὀξὺ τίθεται. γέγονε δὲ κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ κ. αὐλῷ γὰρ ἔοικε· πᾶν γὰρ ἐπίμηκες αὐλὸς λέγεται); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 493-494 (idem); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1149 (Καυλός. τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ δόρατος, εἰς ὃ τὸ ξύλον ἐντίθεται. γέγονε κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ κ. αὐλῷ γὰρ ἔοικε. πᾶν γὰρ ἐπίμηκες αὐλὸς λέγεται)

Modern etymology

Cognate with Lat. caulis "shaft", Old Irish cúal "faggot", Lith. káulas "bone". PIE *keh2ulo- "shaft" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Modern Greek has καυλί "penis" (colloquial), from the jellenistic diminutive καυλίον. There also are words καύλα/καύλωμα, 'lust, desire for sexual intercourse', καυλιάρης 'libidinus' and verb καυλώνω 'to have sexual desire', 'to be very excited generally'

Entry By

Le Feuvre