βραχύς + κίω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
βραχίων
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
brakhiōn
English translation (word)
arm
Transliteration (Etymon)
brakhus + kiō
English translation (etymon)
short + to go
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum beta p. 285
Ed.
E. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum 1 , Leipzig 1909
Quotation
Βραχίων <Ps. 9, 36>· παρὰ τὸ βραχύς καὶ τὸ κίω ῥῆμα· ὁ βραχύτερος τῶν λοιπῶν μερῶν τοῦ σώματος
Translation (En)
Brakhiōn "arm": from brakhus "short" and the verb kiō "to go"; that which is shorter than the other limbs of the body
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, beta p. 285 (Βραχίων· ἐκ τοῦ βραχύ καὶ τοῦ κίω, τὸ πορεύομαι, βραχυκίων καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ βραχίων. βραχίων, βραχίονος)
Modern etymology
Βραχίων is the substantivized comparative of βραχύς, remodelled from the older comparative βράσσων. Βραχύς is cognate with Lat. brevis "short" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Modern Greek has βραχίονας from old accusative βραχίονα to designate: 1. The part of the arm from the shoulder to the elbow, 2. anything looking like a βραχίων.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology seems to be the result of a misunderstanding of the older etymology βραχίων / βραχύς + κίων, where the noun κίων "pillar" was reinterpreted as the participle of the verb "to go". It is hard to understand how the arm could be the "short-going", but this may have been understood as the fact that the upper part of the arm has a lesser amplitude than the forearm and that it moves are shorter. NB : Kiō is a foreing word (ξενικὸν δὲ τοὔνομα) according to Plato (426c5) who considers the verb as the etymon of κίνησις (movement). From the formal point of view, it implies the same syncope as the original etymology