ὀψέ

Word

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ὄψον

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

opson

English translation (word)

cooked food eaten with bread

Transliteration (Etymon)

opse

English translation (etymon)

late

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 726c

Ed.

C. Hubert, Plutarchi moralia, vol. 4, Leipzig: Teubner, 1938 (repr. 1971)

Quotation

διὸ τοῦτο μὲν ἀκράτισμα καλεῖν διὰ τὸν ἄκρατον, ὄψον δὲ τὸ παρασκευαζόμενον εἰς δεῖπνον αὐτοῖς· ὀψὲ γὰρ δειπνεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν πράξεων γενομένους.

Translation (En)

So they called breakfast akratisma because of the akratos. What was prepared for their dinner they called opson, because they dined "late" (opse), when they got away from business activities (Transl. Edwin L. Minar, F. H. Sandbach, W. C. Helmbold, Loeb CL)

Comment

Paronymic etymology reflecting the fact that δεῖπνον means "dinner" in classical and koine Greek, so that it is the last meal of the day, and is taken "late" (ὀψέ). The ὄψον, as part of the meal, is supposed to receive its name from a feature which has nothing to do with the type of food the ὄψον is, but is a feature of the meal itself, through a metonymy.

Parallels

Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 269 (οἱ παλαιοὶ πᾶν τὸ συνάμα σιτίοις ἐσθιόμενον. καὶ γίνεται, φασίν, ἡ λέξις παρὰ τὸ ὀψέ, διότι οὐχὶ ἕωθεν ἀλλ’ ὀψὲ τοιαύτας τροφὰς προσεφέροντο, ἢ μᾶλλον, ὅτι ὀψὲ καιροῦ εἰς χρῆσιν ἦλθεν ἀνθρώποις ἡδονῆς χάριν τὸ ὄψον); Idem, Comm. Od. 1, 139 (Ἰστέον δὲ ὅτι ὄψα λέγονται τὰ τοῦ σίτου ἡδύσματα, παρὰ τὸ ὀψέ); T Schol. Il. 11.630 (630b Erbse) (ὄψον δὲ πᾶν τὸ σὺν σιτίοις ἐσθιόμενον· ὀψὲ γὰρ ταύτην προσήγοντο τὴν τροφήν, ἕωθεν δὲ ἀκράτισμά τι)

Modern etymology

The etymology is not clear. The word belongs probably with ὀπτός "cooked, roasted", ὀπτάω "to roast", but has also been connected with ὀπί "on, after", a derivative of which is ὀψέ "late" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is lost in Modern Standard Greek, but the derivative ὀψάριον occurs in Medieval vernacular Greek and also in the contemporary Pontiac dialect. Today there is ψάρι "fish" (Em. Kriaras Dictionary of Mediev. Vernacular Greek, vol. 14, s.v.).

Entry By

Le Feuvre
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