λύω + ὤψ
Word
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Λύπη: Παρὰ τὸ λύειν εἰς δάκρυα τοὺς ὦπας, λυώπη τὶς οὖσα· ἢ διὰ τὸ λυμαίνεσθαι δι’ αὐτῶν τοὺς ὦπας. Οὕτω Σωρανός· ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς παρὰ τὸ λύω, λύη καὶ λύπη
Translation (En)
Lupē "pain": from the fact it dissolves (luein) the eyes (ōpas) into tears, a *luōpē, as it were. Or because the eyes are defiled by them. This is what Soranus says. But Herodian says that from luō "to solve", come *luē and lupē
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio Paris. 2630) p. 187 (Λύπη· παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοὺς ὦπας, ἤγουν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς· ἢ παρὰ τὸ λύω λύη, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ π λύπη. οὕτως Ἡρωδιανός); Meletius, De natura hominis p. 43 (παράγεται δὲ λύπη παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοὺς ὦπας εἰς δάκρυα, καὶ λυμαίνεσθαι τούτους· λυώπη τίς οὖσα· λύσις γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐστὶ τὸ πάθος τὸ λυπηρόν); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 18 (Πόθεν λύπη; παρὰ τὸ λυώπη· λύει γὰρ εἰς δάκρυα τοὺς ὦπας); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 144 (παρὰ τὸ λύειν τὸ πῖον,? ἢ παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοὺς ὦπας, ἢ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς); Etym. Parvum, lambda 4 (Λύπη· παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοῖς δάκρυσι τοὺς ὦπας· λύη τις οὖσα); Etym. Gudianum, lambda, p. 374 (Λύπη, παρὰ τὸ λύειν τοῖς δάκρυσι τοὺς ὦπας, ἤγουν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 571 (Λύπη: Παρὰ τὸ λύειν εἰς δάκρυα τοὺς ὦπας, λυώπη τὶς οὖσα· ἢ διὰ τὸ λυμαίνεσθαι δι’ αὐτῶν τοὺς ὦπας. Οὕτω Σωρανός· ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς παρὰ τὸ λύω, λύη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ π, λύπη· λύσις γὰρ ψυχῆς τὸ πάθος τὸ λυπηρόν)
Comment
This etymology parses the word as a compound of λύω, whereas Herodian's etymology analyses it as a derivative from the same λύω (see λύπη / λύω). The second element, accounting for the [p], is identified as ὤψ "eye". From the formal point of view, this implies a formal manipulation, a syncope (loss of the [ō] in the pre-form *luōpē). From the semantic point of view, it relies on the fact that pain provoke tears, which destroy or defile the eyes. When Herodian's etymology was referring to an abstract destruction, that of the soul, Soranus' is referring to a more concrete one, that of the eyes, defiled by the tears. Orion's formulation (in fact, the abbreviator of Orion) seems to imply that Soranus etymologizes the word as λυμαίνομαι + ὤψ but this is not the case and Soranus' etymology is λύω + ὤψ