ὅρος + ἄνω
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English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
(τόπος) ὃν ἐτύμως καλοῦμεν οὐρανὸν μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅρον εἶναι τὸν ἄνω
Translation (En)
(the place) which we call veridically ouranon ("sky") from the fact that it is the "upper" (anō) "limit" (horon)
Parallels
Philo Judaeus, De opificio mundi 37 (εἶτ’ εὐθέως οὐρανὸν προσεῖπεν αὐτὸν εὐθυβόλως καὶ πάνυ κυρίως, ἤτοι διότι πάντων ὅρος ἢ διότι πρῶτος τῶν ὁρατῶν ἐγένετο); idem, De plantatione 3 (τὸν δὲ αἰθέριον ἐν κύκλῳ τόπον ὠχυροῦτο τῶν ἐντὸς ὅρον τε καὶ φυλακτήριον αὐτὸν τιθείς, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ οὐρανὸς ὠνομάσθαι δοκεῖ); 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); Maximus Confessor, Ambigua ad Joannem 20.4 (ὡς ὅρος τῶν ὁριζομένων καὶ πέρας τῶν περιγεγραμμένων, τροπικῶς “οὐρανὸς” ὀνομάζεται); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 17 (Τὸν οὐρανὸν δ’ ὅρον τις ἴστω τῶν ἄνω); Commentaria in Dionysii Thracis Artem grammaticam p. 303 (ἔτυμον γὰρ τὸ ἀληθές, καὶ ἡ ἐτυμολογία ἐν τῷ σημαινομένῳ τὸ ἀληθὲς καταλαμβάνει, ὡς ἐν τῷ οὐρανός λέγομεν, οὐρανὸς γὰρ ὅρος τίς ἐστιν); Scholia in Aristophanem, Plutus 267c (οὐρανόν] “οὐρανὸς” ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ “ἄνω ὁρᾶσθαι”, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ “ἄνω” εἶναι “ὅρος”, ἤτοι ὁρισμὸς καὶ πέρας πάντων τῶν ὑφ’ αὐτῷ ὄντων).
The etymology is implicit in Joannes Philoponus' De opificio mundi p. 157 (ὁ δὲ οὐρανὸς ὡς ἅπαντα περιέχων καὶ οἷον ὅρος ὢν ἁπάντων καὶ συνοχὴ προ ϋπῆρξεν ὁμοῦ πάντων). It may be implicit in M. Psellus' Opusculum 36, l. 620-623 (ὃ δὴ καὶ τρίτον ὑπερβέβηκεν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ἕβδομον καὶ ὅρος ἐστὶ πάντων ὁρισμῶν καὶ πέρας περάτων, ἐντὸς ἑαυτοῦ πάντα συγκλεῖον καὶ σπαργανοῦν καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον πρεσβύτερον ἢ ὑψηλότερον)
Comment
This etymology is in fact similar to Heraclides' etymology by οὖρος (see οὐρανός / οὖρος), since the Ionic form for "boundary" is οὖρος, identical with the word for "guard". It is therefore likely that this etymology was derived from Heraclides' etymology by taking οὖρος in a different meaning, or assuming that Heraclides' etymology was playing on the two different meanings of οὖρος. The etymology reflects the Greek conception of the world: the sky marks the upper limit of the world. It implies two formal manipulations, transforming the [o] into a [ou] and dropping the initial aspiration, as in the etymologies deriving the word from ὁράω (see οὐρανός / ὁράω + νόος)