ἐρέφω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Edition
Source
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Ed.
Quotation
ὄρφνη· παρὰ τὸ ἐρέφω, ὅ ἐστι σκέπω, γίνεται ὀροφή, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν ὀροφνὴ καὶ συγκοπῇ ὄρφνη, ἡ σκέπουσα τὸ φῶς. οὕτω Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἀναδιπλασιασμοῦ
Translation (En)
Orphnē "darkness, night": from erephō "to cover", that is skepō "to shelter" is coming orophē; by adding a n: *orophnē and by syncope: orphnē, what covers the light. That is what Philoxenus writes in his Peri anadiplasiasmou.
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 437 (Ὀρφνὴ, νὺξ, σκοτία, παρὰ τὸ ἐρέφω τὸ σκέπω, ὀροφὴ ἡ σκέπουσα τὸ φῶς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 634 (Ὄρφνη· Ἡ σκοτία. Καὶ· Νύκτα δι’ ὀρφναίην. Τὴν σκοτεινήν. Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐρέφω, τὸ σκέπω, γίνεται ὀροφή· πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν, ὀροφνή· καὶ συγκοπῇ ὄρφνη, ἡ σκέπουσα τὸ φῶς); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1467 (Ὀρφνή. σκοτεινὴ νὺξ ἢ μέλαινα. νύκτα δι’ ὀρφναίην—. παρὰ τὸ ἐρέφω, τὸ σκέπω, γίνεται ὀροφὴ καὶ ὀρφνὴ κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ ν καὶ συγκοπήν); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 2.81 (ὄρφνη· ἀπὸ τοῦ φαίνειν τὴν ὅρασιν· ὄροφός ἐστι βοτάνη, ἥτις εἰς σκέπην τῶν δωμάτων συντελεῖ ἀντὶ στέγης ἄλλης, ὀρφνὴ δ’ ἡ νὺξ, ὡς στέγης τινὸς ἐπικειμένης τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὀφθαλμοῖς ὄρφνη καὶ ὀρφνὴ ἡ νὺξ ἀπὸ τοῦ τὴν ὅρασιν φονεύειν, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀρφανὴ εἶναι φωτός. ὄρφνη ἡ νὺξ ἡ ὀρφανὴ φωτὸς, ἢ καὶ ὀροφή τις οὖσα καὶ ἀποσκίασις); ibid. 3.161 (ὀρφνὴ ἡ νὺξ παρὰ τὸ τὴν ὅρασιν φαίνειν (φένειν) ἀντιφραστικῶς, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρέφω τὸ στεγάζω· ὡς στέγος γὰρ ἐπίκειται τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὀφθαλμοῖς. ὀρφνὴ ἡ νὺξ παρὰ τὸ μὴ φαίνειν τὴν ὅρασιν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρέφω τὸ στεγάζω· ὡς στέγος γὰρ ἐπίκειται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀφ’ ἧς ἔλαβεν ἀρσίως τὴν μέλαιναν τῆς σηπίας ῥανίδα)
Comment
Philoxenus explains here the poetical substantive ὄρφνη, "darkness" thanks to the connection with the verb ἐρέφω. He details the story of the term by adding two steps: the substantive ὀροφή, "roof of a house" (already in Od., 22, 298) and *ὀροφνή, a ghost word created for the needs of the demonstration. Although the immediate etymon of ὄρφνη (its derivational base) is ὀροφή, Philoxenus, consistent with his theory, gives as the etymon the verb ἐρέφω from which ὀροφή is derived. The etymology implies a formal manipulation, adjunction of a consonant. Philoxenus ends his reasoning by a semantic argument: darkness is what is covering the light.