βάσις + ἵλαος

Word

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Thu, 08/25/2022 - 15:50

Word-form

βασιλεύς

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ-1 .
LSJ-2

Transliteration (Word)

basileus

English translation (word)

king

Transliteration (Etymon)

basis + hilaos

English translation (etymon)

base + favourable

Author

Etym. Genuinum

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum, beta 46

Ed.

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

Quotation

Βασιλεύς (Ps. 2, 2)· παρὰ τὸ σίνω, τὸ βλάπτω, γίνεται σινεύς, ὁ βλαπτικός, ἀσινεύς, ὁ ἀβλαβής, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ν εἰς τὸ λ ἀσιλεύς καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β βασιλεύς. ἢ παρὰ τὸ βαίνειν ἵλεως. ἢ παρὰ τὸ πεπᾶσθαι λαούς, ὅ ἐστι κεκτῆσθαι· πάσασθαι γὰρ τὸ κτήσασθαι, καὶ πάμματα τὰ κτήματα, καὶ Δ 433 "πολυπάμμονος". ἵν’ ᾖ πασιλεύς, καὶ βασιλεύς. ἢ ὁ περὶ τὴν βάσιν ἴλην ἔχων, τουτέστι μετὰ πλήθους ποιούμενος τὴν βάσιν καὶ τὴν ἔξοδον. ἢ ὅτι λαοῦ ἐστι βάσις καὶ στήριγμα. ἢ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν καὶ τὸ λεύσσειν, ὁ ἐν τῷ περιϊέναι περίβλεπτος. ἢ πασιλεύς τις ὤν, ὁ πάντας λεύσσων καὶ πάντων προνοῶν 

Translation (En)

Basileus "king": from sinō "to harm" comes *sineus "the harming one", *asineus "harmless", and through change of the [n] into [l] *asileus, and through the addition of [b], basileus. Or from the fact that he walks (bainein) favourable (hileōs); or from the fact that he is the master of people (pepâsthai laous), that is, he owns them. As a matter of fact, pepâsthai means "to own", and pammata are the possessions, as in Il. 4.433 πολυπάμμονος "of the one who has many possessions", so that it be *pasileus and <then> basileus; or the one who has a group (ilēn) around his walk (basis), that is, who walks and goes out with many people around him; or because he is the basis of the people (basis laoû) and its support; or from basis "walk" and "to see" (leussein), he who is conspicuous when he moves around; or a *pasileus, as it were, who watches everyone  (pantas leussōn) and foresees everything

Comment

This etymology starts from the Attic form of the adjective ἵλαος, which is ἵλεως, matching the ending -εως of the genitive singular. Therefore, as the one through βάσις + λαός, it starts from an inflected form. The second element is supposed to be the adjective "favourable", a quality of the good king. The first element is glossed by the verb (βαίνειν), for a "favourable walk" does not make any sense

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 189 (idem); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 402 (βασιλεύς (Ps. 2, 2)· παρὰ τὸ βαίνειν ἵλεως. ἢ παρὰ τὰ κτήματα καὶ (Δ 433) "πολυπάμμονος", <τοῦ πολυκτήμονος,> ἵν’ ᾖ πασιλεύς, καὶ βασιλεύς. ἢ παρὰ τὸ μετὰ ἴλης τὴν βάσιν ποιεῖσθαι, τουτέστι μετὰ πλήθους. ἢ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν καὶ τὸ λεύσσειν, ὁ ἐν τῷ περιιέναι † περιβλέπων)

Modern etymology

Unknown. The word is already attested in Mycenaean (qa-si-re-su), but has no cognate in other IE languages (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG has βασιλιάς designating: 1. "king", 2. any per. leading a luxurius life / dominating in a field, 3. (masc.) the chess fig., 4. (fem.) the bee leader. "Βασιλεύς" occurs only in phr. "βασιλικότερος του βασιλέως" and "Βασιλεύς των βασιλέων" (= Christ).

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