σπουδή + γομόω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
σπόγγος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
spongos
English translation (word)
sponge
Transliteration (Etymon)
spoudē + gomoō
English translation (etymon)
haste + to load
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456) 205
Ed.
A.M. Micciarelli Collesi, "Nuovi `excerpta' dall' `etimologico' di Orione," Byzantion 40 (1970): 521-542
Quotation
Σπόγγος: διὰ τὸ σπουδῇ γομοῦσθαι
Translation (En)
"Sponge" (spongos): because it "loads" (gomoûsthai) "hastily" (spoudēi)
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
The word is connected with Lat. fungus "mushroom" and Arm. sunk "mushroom, cork-tree", but has no PIE etymology and must be a loanword in those three languages (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Σπόγγος is still used in MG to designate: 1. The marine creature, 2. the object deriving from that creature. Modern Greek also has σφουγγάρι, deriving from σφογγάριον < σφόγγος < σπόγγος, giving derivatives (e.g., σφουγγαρίζω; Triandafyllidis, D. of MG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Descriptive etymology parsing the word as a compound, relying on the characteristic feature of the sponge that it absorbs liquids. It implies to start from a pre-form *spoud-gom, to which two formal manipulations are applied: change of the [d] into [g] (which is facilitated by the fact that γ and δ are two adjacent letters in the alphabetic order) and change of the [ou] into [o]. Those manipulations remain implicit