λάω1
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
Τὸ λέων παρὰ τὸ λάω, τὸ θεωρῶ· ὀξυδερκέστατον γὰρ τὸ θηρίον, ὥς φησι Μανέθων ἐν τῷ Πρὸς Ἡρόδοτον· ὅτι οὐδέποτε καθεύδει ὁ λέων, τοῦτο δὲ ἀπίθανον
Translation (En)
The word leōn ("lion") comes from laō ("to watch"). Because the animal has a very sharp eye, as Manetho says in the Against Herodotus, because the lion never sleeps – but this is incredible
Parallels
Philoxenus, fr. 138 (λέων· παρὰ τὸ λάειν, ὅ ἐστι βλέπειν· λέγουσι γὰρ τὸν λέοντα μὴ μύειν τὰ ὄμματα κοιμώμενον); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773) kappa 614 (λέων παρὰ τὸ λάειν ὅ ἐστι βλέπειν· λέγουσι γὰρ τὸν λέοντα, μὴ μύειν τὰ ὄμματα κοιμωμένων); Etym. Genuinum, lambda 177 (Λέων· παρὰ τὸ λάω τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ θεωρῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀλαὸς ὁ τυφλός, ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ λάειν ἤγουν τοῦ βλέπειν· ὀξυδερκέστατον γὰρ τὸ θηρίον. καί φησιν ὁ Μανέθων ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἡρόδοτον, ὅτι οὐδέποτε καθεύδει ὁ λέων. τοῦτο δὲ ἀπίθανον); Choeroboscus, De orthographia (epitome), p. 235-236 (Λέων: Γέγονεν δὲ τοῦτον τρόπον κατὰ τὸν Ὦρον· ἔστιν δὲ λάω, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ θεωρῶ, ἐξ οὗ τὸ ἀλαὸς, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸν τυφλὸν, οἱονεὶ ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ λάειν· ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ λάω γέγονεν λέων· ὀξυδερκέστατον γὰρ τὸ θήριον· φασὶ γὰρ ὅτι οὐδέποτε καθεύδει ὁ λεών· τοῦτο δὲ ἀπείθανον); idem, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 80 (λῶ τὸ βλέπω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ λέων); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 559 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, lambda, p. 367 (Λέων, ἔστι δὲ λάω, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ θεωρῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ ἀλαὸς τὸ σημαῖνον τὸν τυφλὸν, οἱονεὶ ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ λάειν· ἀπὸ οὖν τοῦ λάω γέγονε λέων, ὀξυδερκὲς δὲ τὸ θηρίον. φασὶ γὰρ ὅτι οὐδέποτε καθεύδει ὁ λέων· τοῦτο δὲ ἀπίθανον); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 321 ( Ὁ δ’ αὖ λέων λάων τις, ὡς μέγα βλέπων); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 238 (Ὅτι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ λάω, τὸ βλέπω, γίνεται, ὥσπερ ὁ λέων, οὕτω καὶ ὁ λίς κατὰ τὸν γραμματικὸν Ὦρον ὡς ὀξυδερκής, καὶ ὅτι, ὥς φησι Μανέθων ἐν τοῖς πρὸς Ἡρόδοτον, οὐ καθεύδει ὁ λέων, ὅπερ ἀπίθανον); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, lambda, p. 1293-1294 (Τὸ λέων παρὰ τὸ λάω, τὸ θεωρῶ. ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἀλαὸς, ὁ ἐστερημένος τοῦ βλέπειν. ὀξυδερκέστατον γὰρ τὸ θηρίον, ὥς φησι Μανέθων ἐν τῷ Πρὸς Ἡρόδοτον· ὅτι οὐδέποτε καθεύδει ὁ λέων, τοῦτο δὲ ἀπίθανον)
Comment
This etymology derives the name of the animal from a verb meaning "to see" which is never used in Greek prose. It is a descriptive epithet, justifying the noun through a supposed feature of the lion: as a predator, it has a sharp sight. From the formal point of view, it relies on the well-known variation of the type Attic λεώς, νεώς, vs Doric λᾱός, νᾱός, which is the result of a quantitative metathesis. The fact that the lion is also called λέων in dialects which have no quantitative metathesis and preserve the ᾱ, which would ruin that etymology in a modern linguist's view, was not taken into account because Greek etymologists did not have a good understanding of Greek dialectal relationships. It is not absolutely certain that the etymology is attested in Manetho, who may have simply said that the lion was ὀξυδερκέστατος without intending it as an etymology: our sources are not consistent about what is to be attributed to Manetho. The etymology as such may be more recent, but dates back to Philoxenus at least