κείρω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
κόμη
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
komē
English translation (word)
hair
Transliteration (Etymon)
keirō
English translation (etymon)
to cut
Century
9 AD ?
Source
Id.
Ref.
Il. 1.36b2
Ed.
A. Dyck, Epimerismi homerici, pars prior epimerismos continens qui ad Iliadis librum A pertinent, Berlin 1983
Quotation
κόμη παρὰ τὸ κείρω, κόρη, τροπῇ τοῦ ρ εἰς μ, κόμη · ἢ παρὰ τὸ κόσμον αὐτὴν εἶναι τοῦ σώματος
Translation (En)
komē “hair” is from keirō “to cut”, ‹hence› *korē “cutting”, and by changing the [r] into [m], komē. Or because it is the kosmos “ornament” of the body
Parallels
Etymologicum Magnum, Kallierges p. 527 (Κόμη: Ἐκ τοῦ κείρω, τὸ κόπτω, κόρη· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ρ εἰς μ, κόμη, ἡ θρίξ. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ κόσμον εἶναι τοῦ σώματος· ὥσπερ γὰρ κόσμον ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐνέθηκε τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὰς τρίχας. Οἱ δὲ, παρὰ τὸ κομεῖν, τὸ ἐπιμελείας ἀξιοῦσθαι)
Modern etymology
Unclear. Borrowed in Latin as coma (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Κόμη is used in Modern Greek as an erudite form to denote: a) the 'hair' and b) the 'leaves of a tree' (Triandafyllidis Dictionary of MG).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
*korē "cutting" is a ghost-word invented for the sake of the etymological explanation. The etymology relies on the regular vowel alternation e ~ o (seen for instance in λέγω ~ λόγος) plus a "change" of a consonant. Semantically, it implies that hair differs from body hair in that it has to be cut regularly.