Functional etymology. The word is parsed as a compound with αἷμα as its first element, which implies a formal manipulation, dropping of the initial diphthong. The second element is identified as χέω for obvious semantic reasons, because a knife indeed makes blood flow. From the formal point of view, all that is left of χέω is apparently the χ: but it is likely that this etymology was suggested by the standard analysis of ἰοχέαιρα, Artemis' Homeric epithet, as "arrow-pouring". A simple syncope could lead from -χέαιρα to -χαιρα. The etymology is repeated in the Gudianum, which implies that it was present in two different sources