ἕψω

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)

hepsō

English translation (etymon)

to boil

Author

Chares of Mytilene

Century

4 BC

Reference

FGrHist 125, F9 Jacoby

Edition

F. Jacoby, Fragmenten der griechischen Historiker, Leiden, Brill, 1923-1958

Source

Athenaeus

Ref.

Deipnosophistae 7.4, 277A

Ed.

G. Kaibel, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, Leipzig, 1887-1890

Quotation

οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ ὅτι ὄψον κυρίως καλεῖται πᾶν τὸ πυρὶ κατασκευαζόμενον εἰς ἐδωδήν· ἤτοι γὰρ ἕψον ἐστὶν ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὠπτῆσθαι ὠνόμασται

Translation (En)

I do not ignore that opson "cooked food eaten with bread" refers properly to everything which has been prepared with fire in order to be eaten; and indeed, it is a *hepson "cooking", or it was named after ōptēsthai "to have been roasted"

Comment

This etymology, which Athenaeus attributes to Chares of Mytilene, derives ὄψον from the verb ἕψω "to boil", relying on the alternation between [e] and [o] in the stem, assuming a ghost-word *ἕψον. It does not take into account the fact that ἕψω has an initial aspiration, as objected by Eustathius (see Parallels). It is suggested by the semantic proximity of a verb meaning "to boil" with a noun meaning "cooked food", both having in common the feature [COOK]

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 446 (Ὄψον, κυρίως λέγεται πᾶν τὸ τῷ πυρὶ κατασκευασμένον, παρὰ τὸ ἐψόν τι ὄν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὀπτῆσαι ὠνομασμένον); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 270 (ὁ Ἀθήναιος γράφει λέγων καί, ὅτι βρώσεως ἥδυσμα τὸ ὄψον, καὶ ὅτι κυρίως ὄψον τὸ πυρὶ σκευαζόμενον εἰς ἐδωδήν. ἤτοι γὰρ ἕψον ἐστί, φησίν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὀπτᾶσθαι ὠνόμασται. Εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὸ εἶναι τὸ ὄψον ἐκ τοῦ ἕψειν ἐναντιοῦσθαι τὸ πνεῦμα δοκεῖ); ibid. 3, 269 (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. τὰ πρὸ τούτου γὰρ ἁπλοϊκῶς ἔζων. [Τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν ὡς ἐκ τοῦ ἕψειν γίνεται τὸ ὄψον, οὐ πάνυ εὐοδοῦται, τά τε ἄλλα, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἕψω δασύνεται, τὸ δὲ ὄψον ψιλοῦται]); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1495 (Ὄψον. προσφάγιον. κυρίως δὲ λέγεται πᾶν τὸ πυρὶ κατασκευαζόμενον. παρὰ τὸ ἕψον τι ὂν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὀπτῆσαι ὠνόμασται).

The collocation occurs in a fragment of Diocles (4th c. BC): ἁρμόττει δὲ τὰ μὲν μικρᾶς ἢ μηδεμιᾶς ἐπανορθώσεως δεόμενα τῶν ὄψων ἑψεῖν, ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ὕδατι (fr. 187, ap. Oribasius, Collectiones medicae 4.3.8.). It may be intended as a figura etymologica, but it is more likely to be a mere play

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.).

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