ὁράω + ἄνω

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Yes

Last modification

Mon, 10/31/2022 - 18:30

Word-form

οὐρανῷ

Transliteration (Word)

ouranos

English translation (word)

sky

Transliteration (Etymon)

horaō + anō

English translation (etymon)

to see + upwards

Author

Plato

Century

4 BC

Source

Idem

Ref.

Cratylus 396b-c

Ed.

Burnet, Platonis Opera, Oxford UP, 1903

Comment

The etymology parses the word as a compound of ὁράω "to see" and ἄνω "upwards". It could seem natural since heaven is indeed above our heads, but if we took Plato's etymology as he formulates it, the sky should be the one looking upwards, whereas it is what is seen above when we look upwards. This shows the usual indifference to diathesis which is constant in Greek etymologies: here ὁράω should be taken as passive, not as active, although in the definition it is given as active. The etymology implies a formal manipulation, the change of [ŏ] into [ou] (not commented upon by Plato), and the loss of initial aspiration (this is rightly observed by later grammarians, see the Etym. Gudianum). The same definition is given for the diminutive οὐρανισκός (see Parallels)

Parallels

Cornutus, De natura deorum 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); Eusebius, Praeparatio evangelica 11.6.19 (ὁ δὲ Πλάτων τῷ οὐρανῷ φησιν ὀρθῶς ὄνομα κεῖσθαι διὰ τὸ ἄνω ὁρᾶν ποιεῖν); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio 2610), p. 181 (Οὐρανός εἴρηται διὰ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι ἄνω· ἢ ὅρασις ἄνω); Proclus, Theologia platonica 4.40 (ed. H.D. Saffrey and L.G. Westerink) (Ἔτι δέ, εἰ οὐρανός ἐστιν ἡ ὁρῶσα ὄψις <εἰς> τὰ ἄνω, εἰκότως τὸ νοητὸν αὐτῆς χρῶμα ἂν καλοῖτο τῇ ὄψει σύζυγον); ibid. 4.69 (Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Θεόδωρος τὸ πρῶτον οὐρανὸν εἰπών, οὔτε τὴν εἰς τὰ ἄνω ὁρῶσαν ὄψιν, ὡς ὁ ἐν Κρατύλῳ Σωκράτης, ἀφίησιν ἔτι ὑπάρχειν […]); Proclus, In Platonis Timaeum commentaria vol. 1, p. 272-273 (ed. Diehl) (διόπερ εἰκότως ὁ Πλάτων ἀφορίζεται πρὸ τῆς ὅλης θεωρίας ὑπὲρ τῶνδε τῶν ὀνομάτων, τὸ πᾶν οὐρανὸν καὶ κόσμον προσαγορεύων καὶ λέγων, ὡς ὁ πᾶς οὐρανός—ἵνα μὴ μόνον αὐτὸν οἰηθῇς τὸ θεῖον σῶμα λέγειν—ὠνομάσθω ἡμῖν ὁ κόσμος ἢ ἄλλο ὅ τί ποτε ὀνομαζόμενος χαίρει. καὶ ἔοικεν οὐρανὸν μὲν αὐτὸν καλεῖν ὡς πᾶσι δοκοῦν, κόσμον δὲ ὡς ἑαυτῷ· λέγει γὰρ, ὅτι ὁ οὐρανὸς ἡμῖν ὠνομάσθω κόσμος· προσήκει γὰρ ὡς δημιουργήματι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κόσμου, εἰ καὶ ἄμφω δυνατὸν αὐτὸν καλεῖν, οὐρανὸν μὲν ὡς ὁρῶντα τὰ ἄνω καὶ θεώμενον τὸ νοητὸν καὶ ὡς νοερᾶς οὐσίας μετέχοντα, κόσμον δὲ ὡς πληρούμενον ἀεὶ καὶ κοσμούμενον ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντως ὄντων, καὶ οὐρανὸν μὲν ὡς ἐπεστραμμένον, κόσμον δὲ ὡς προϊόντα); Simplicius, In Aristotelis quattuor libros de caelo commentaria 7, p. 281 (εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐτυμολογίαν τις ἐννοήσει τοῦ οὐρανίου σώματος, ἣν ὁ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ Κρατύλῳ παραδέδωκεν, ὅτι ὁ οὐρανὸς ὁ τὸ ἄνω ὁρῶν ἐστιν ὡς εἰς τὰ αἴτια τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἐστραμμένος καὶ μένων ἐν αὐτοῖς, εἰκότως ἂν καὶ ὁ κόσμος οὐρανὸς λέγοιτο τῶν ἑαυτοῦ αἰτίων ἐξηρτημένος); Johannes Damascenus, Expositio fidei 20 (Σύνηθες δὲ τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ καὶ τὸν ἀέρα οὐρανὸν καλεῖν διὰ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι ἄνω); Lexicon de Atticis nominibus 38 (Οὐρανός. ἡ τὰ ἄνω ὁρῶσα ὄψις); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 17-19 (Τὸν οὐρανὸν δ’ ὅρον τις ἴστω τῶν ἄνω, | ὁρῶν ἄνω τε τοὔνομα γνωριζέτω | ἄνω τὸ κύκλῳ πᾶν νοῶν τῶν ἐν μέσῳ); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 441-442 (Οὐρανὸς, ὁρᾶται νοερῶς· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ τὸ φυλάσσω· ἢ οὐρανὸς τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ὅρασις νοῦ· ἢ διὰ τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι ἄνω, ἡ ὅρασις ἄνω κειμένη· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ τὸ βλέπω, ὁ πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος ἤτοι φαινόμενος, ὁρανὸς καὶ ἐν πλεονασμῷ τοῦ υ οὐρανός· καὶ ὤφειλε δασύνεσθαι, ἐπεὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρῶ γίνεται· ἀλλὰ κανών ἐστιν ὁ λέγων, ὅτι τὸ υ πλεόναζον ψιλοῦται τὰ πρὸ ἑαυτοῦ φωνήεντα, οἷον ὄρος, οὖρος ἕκηλος, εὔκηλος, ἕαδε εὔαδε); 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); ibid., p. 642(Οὐρανίσκος: Ἢ ἡ ὅρασις ἄνω, ἢ ὁ ὁρώμενος ἄνω· ἢ ὅτι ὀρούει ἄνω. Ὑποκοριστικὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ σωματικοῦ μέρους, οἱονεὶ ὁ μικρὸς οὐρανός· ὅτι μετεωρότατός ἐστι τῆς εὐρυχωρίας· οὗτος ὁ τόπος); Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam 196 (ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρῶ τὸ βλέπω, ὁ πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος ἤτοι φαινόμενος. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄνω ὁρᾶσθαι); Scholia in AristophanemPlutus 267c (οὐρανόν] “οὐρανὸς” ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ “ἄνω ὁρᾶσθαι”, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ “ἄνω” εἶναι “ὅρος”, ἤτοι ὁρισμὸς καὶ πέρας πάντων τῶν ὑφ’ αὐτῷ ὄντων)

Modern etymology

Proto-Greek *(ϝ)ορσανός, derived from PIE *worso-, cf. Vedic varṣá- [n., m.] "rain" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Ουρανός is still used in MG to denote: a) the 'sky' in general and b) the 'heavens' (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)

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