φαγεῖν

Validation

Yes

Word-form

φηγός

Transliteration (Word)

phēgos

English translation (word)

oak, acorn

Transliteration (Etymon)

phagein

English translation (etymon)

to eat

Author

Apion

Century

1 BC - 1 AD

Reference

Fr. 146

Edition

S. Neitzel, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Dionysios Thrax. Die Fragmente der Grammatiker Tyrannion und Diokles. Apions Glossai Homerikai, Berlin, 1977

Source

Apollonius Sophista

Ref.

Lexicon homericum p. 162

Ed.

I. Bekker, Apollonii Sophistae lexicon Homericum, Berlin, 1833

Quotation

φηγός· ἡ δρῦς ... ὁ δὲ ᾿Απίων ἐτυμολογῶν παρὰ τὸ φαγεῖν φαίνεται, ἐπεὶ πρὸ τῆς εὑρέσεως τῶν Δημητριακῶν καρπῶν ἐβαλανοφάγουν

Translation (En)

Phēgos "oak" […] Apion says its etymology is phageîn "to eat", since before the invention of the fruits of Demeter men used to eat acorns

Comment

Paronymic etymology relying on the well-known alternation between ᾰ and ᾱ/η (the Doric form is φᾱγός), and on the fact that Greek has the same word for both the tree and the fruit (acorn), and the latter is edible and associated with uncivilized pre-agricultural life

Parallels

Ps.-Nonnus, Scholia mythologica 4.67 (πάλαι γὰρ ἤσθιον τοὺς βαλάνους ἐκ τῶν φηγῶν· ἔνθεν ἀπὸ τῆς φηγοῦ τὸ φαγεῖν εἴρηται); Cosmas of Jerusalem, Comm. in Gregorii Nazianzeni carmina 64.103-105 (βαλάνους γὰρ πρὸ τούτου ἤσθιον σπέρμα φηγοῦ, ὅθεν καὶ τὸ φαγεῖν ἐκλήθη); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 2, 172 Van der Valk (Διὸ καὶ φηγός ἡ δρῦς λέγεται, παρὰ τὸ φαγεῖν); ibid. 2, p. 398 (Οἱ δὲ βαλανηφάγοι λαλοῦσιν οἷον, ὅτι τοὔνομα κεῖται τῷ φυτῷ ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἀπὸ τοῦ φαγεῖν γὰρ ἡ φηγός); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 2, 103 (καὶ ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ φαγεῖν ἄλλα τε παράγονται καὶ ἡ φηγὸς κατ’ ἐξαίρετον διὰ τὴν πάλαι ποτὲ βαλανηφαγίαν); ibid. 2, 195 (Ἰστέον δὲ ὡς εἴ περ γράφεται ἀπὸ δρυὸς παλαιφάτου, ἀφορμὴν ἡ λέξις ἐτυμολογικὴν ἐνδίδωσι τῆς φηγοῦ. δῆλον γὰρ ὡς φηγὸς ἡ δρῦς, ἐπεὶ προκατῆρξε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις αὐτὴ τοῦ φαγεῖν); Geneva Schol. Il. 7.22 (φηγὸς ἢ δρῦς παρὰ τὸ φαγῶ—ἐκ τοῦ πλεῖν αὐτῇ ἐκέχρηντο); Scholia in Lycophronem 81 (φηγὸν τὴν βάλανον παρὰ τὸ φάγω φαγὸν καὶ φηγὸν λεγομένην· οἱ γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι πρὸ τοῦ τὸν σῖτον εὑρεῖν βαλάνους ἤσθιον καὶ ὀπώρας); ibid. 15 (τὸ δὲ φηγός ἡ δρῦς παρὰ τὸ φάγω· πρὸ γὰρ τῆς εὑρέσεως τοῦ ἄρτου βαλάνους καὶ ἀκρόδρυα ἀντὶ ὀπώρας ἤσθιον οἱ ἄνθρωποι)

Modern etymology

Φηγός is the old name of the "beech", inherited from Indo-European, and matching Goth. book (Engl. book). Its meaning changed in Greek because beech is unknown in Mediterranean countries (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre