χέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
χιών
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
khiōn
English translation (word)
snow
Transliteration (Etymon)
kheō
English translation (etymon)
to pour
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 187
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842
Quotation
Χιών παρὰ τὸ χέω χεὼν καὶ χιών
Translation (En)
Khiōn ("snow") comes from kheō ("to pour"), kheōn ("pouring") and khiōn
Parallels
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1154 ((ὀνόματα) καὶ εἰς ων· τέρπω τερπών, χέω χεών καὶ χιών. οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἀρήγω ἀρηγών); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 141 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, chi p. 567 (Χίων, παρὰ τὸ χέω, καὶ χιτών· συστέλλει δὲ τὸ ω ἐπὶ γενικῆς); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 75 (χιὼν δὲ χεῖται καὶ κάτεισιν ἀθρόα) Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 365 Van der Valk (τὸ μὲν χέεσθαι, ἀφ’ οὗ ἡ χιών); ibid., 3, 391 (Τὸ δὲ χέει ἐτυμολογία χιόνος ἐστίν. ἐκ τοῦ χέειν γὰρ ἡ χιών, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ χειμών).
The etymology might be much older, if there is a figura etymologica in Euripides, Cyclops 326: ὅταν δὲ βορέας χιόνα Θρήικιος χέηι
Modern etymology
Χιών belongs with χειμών, χεῖμα, Lat. hiems "winter", PIE *g̑heim-. Χιών has an exact match in Arm. jiwn "snow" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Modern Greek has χιόνι for "snow", but χιών survives in the Pontiac dialect today.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Paronymic etymology relying on the belief that a god (Zeus) is pouring rain or snow. It shows the insensitivity of Greek etymologists to diathesis, as snow is not pouring, but poured: the intermediate step between χέω and χιών, χεών, seems to be a noun (see Etym. Genuinum in Parallels) derived from the active participle χέων assumed, which does not match the meaning of the word. It implies a formal manipulation, the change of [e] to [I]