οὖρος
Word
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Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Quotation
Οὐρανός. ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρεῖν καὶ φυλάττειν πάντα, καὶ κηπωρὸς, καὶ θυρωρὸς, παρὰ τὸ οὐρεῖν. Ἡσίοδος· Γαῖα μέν τοι πρῶτον ἐγείνατο ἶσον αὑτῇ Οὐρανὸν ἀστερόενθ’, ἵνα μιν περὶ πάντα καλύπτῃ. καὶ οὖρος ὁ φύλαξ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς. ὅροι λέγονται οἱ φυλάττοντες τὸ ἴδιον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου. οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός
Translation (En)
Ouranos "sky": from the fact that it guards and keeps everything, and also kēpōros "garden-keeper" and thurōros "door-keeper". Hesiod: "Earth first gave birth to a being equal to herself, starry Sky, so that he could cover her entirely". And ouros is the name of the guardian in the fields. Those who keep apart that which is one's own from what belongs to others are called horoi. This is what Heraclides Ponticus says
Parallels
Cornutus, On Greek theology 1.1-2 (Ὁ οὐρανός, ὦ παιδίον, περιέχει κύκλῳ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλατταν καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ τὰ ἐν θαλάττῃ πάντα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ταύτης ἔτυχε τῆς προσηγορίας, οὖρος ὢν ἄνω πάντων καὶ ὁρίζων τὴν φύσιν· ἔνιοι δέ φασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὠρεῖν ἢ ὠρεύειν τὰ ὄντα, ὅ ἐστι φυλάττειν, οὐρανὸν κεκλῆσθαι, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ ὁ θυρωρὸς ὠνομάσθη καὶ τὸ πολυωρεῖν· ἄλλοι δὲ αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι ἄνω ἐτυμολογοῦσι); Achilles Tatius, Isagoga excerpta 5 (οὐρανὸς δὲ ἠτυμολόγηται, ἤτοι ἐπεὶ ὅρος παλαιός ἐστιν ἢ ἐπεὶ σφαιροειδὴς ὢν ἔνδοθεν αὑτοῦ ἡμᾶς οὐρεῖ, ὅ ἐστι φυλάσσει, ἢ ἐπεὶ ἀνώτατός ἐστι (τῶι δὲ ὅρωι τὸ ἄνω δηλοῦν Φρυγῶν ἴδιον, ὡς Νεοπτόλεμος ἐν ταῖς Φρυγίαις φωναῖς [Meineke Anal Al p. 360]) ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀρούειν (κινεῖται γάρ) ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ οὖρος εἶναι καὶ ἔσχατος ὅρος); Damascius, In Parmenidem p. 125 (Καὶ ὁ τοῦ Ὀρφέως Οὐρανὸς “οὖρος πάντων καὶ φύλαξ” εἶναι βούλεται); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 79 (ὁ οὐρανός παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ τὸ βλέπω, ὁ πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος, ἢ παρὰ τὸ οὐρῶ τὸ φυλάσσω, ὁ πάντα περιέπων, ἐξ οὗ καὶ οὖρος ὁ φύλαξ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 642 (Οὐρανός: παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ, τὸ βλέπω, ὁ πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος, ἤτοι φαινόμενος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ οὐρῶ, τὸ φυλάττω, ὁ πάντα περιέπων, ὥς φησιν Ἡσίδος, ‘Γαῖα δέ [τοι] πρῶτον μὲν ἐγείνατο ἶσον ἑαυτῇ / Οὐρανὸν ἀστερόενθ’, ἵνα μὶν περὶ πάντα καλύπτοι’. Ὁ δ’ Ἡρακλείδης οὐρανόν φησι καὶ τὸν φύλακα τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς· ὅροι γὰρ (φησὶν) οἱ φυλάσσοντες τὸ ἴδιον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου [in the last sentence οὐρανός is a mistake for οὖρος])
Comment
This etymology derives the name of the sky from the noun οὖρος or its denominative οὐρέω "to guard". The problem is to know which Heraclides is mentioned. Heraclides Ponticus the Younger (1 AD) is one or Orion's main sources, so that he is a likely candidate. However, since we are dealing with astronomical vocabulary, it is not impossible that in fact the etymology is by Heraclides Ponticus (4 BC) and that the two have been confused. In Orion's redaction (and in the Etym. Magnum, see Parallels), it is not absolutely clear which part is attributed to Heraclides, the whole etymology or the last sentence only, that ὅρος too belongs with οὖρος. This paronymic etymology seeks a confirmation in a famous line of Hesiod's Theogony, referring to the creation of the sky. Hesiod says "so that he (Sky) may cover her (Earth) entirely", with καλύπτω. And since καλύπτω "to cover" can mean "to protect", its semantic field overlaps with the group of οὖρος "guardian". There is no implicit etymology in Hesiod's line, but it was used by Heraclides in order to back the etymology he proposed