γῆ + ὁράω
Word
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
γῆρας, παρὰ τὸ γέρας τὴν τιμήν· γῆρας γὰρ, αἰνέσιμον ἄνδρα τίθησι· τινὲς δὲ παρὰ τὸ γῆν νεύειν· ἢ ὁρᾶν
Translation (En)
Gēras "old age": from geras "honor", because old age makes the man worthy of honor. But some say it comes from "to bend" (neuein), that is, "to look" (horân) toward earth (gēn)
Parallels
Anastasius Sin., Viae dux 2, 8 (Γῆρας, γέρας ἤγουν τιμὴ ἤ, ὅτι γῆν ὁρᾷ); Leontius, homilia 1, In natale sancti Joannis prophetae l. 74 (καὶ τὸ γῆρας τῶν ἀμφοτέρων εἰς γῆν νενευκός); Epimerismi homerici Il. 1,29 (γῆρας: ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥέω, τὸ φθείρω, καὶ ὑπερθέσει τοῦ ε, ἔρω, ἡ μετοχὴ ἔρων καὶ προσθέσει τοῦ γ, γέρων, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γέρας καὶ Ἰωνικῶς γῆρας. ἢ παρὰ τὸ γῶ, τὸ χωρῶ, πρὸς ὃ πάντες χωροῦμεν. | ἢ παρὰ τὸ γῆ, γῆρας· τοῦτο ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰς γῆν ὁρᾶν); Etym. Gudianum, gamma, p. 310 (Γῆρας· παρὰ τὸ εἰς γῆν ῥεῖν· ἐγγὺς γὰρ θανάτου. ἢ παρὰ τὸ γέρας, ἤγουν τιμή. ἢ <ὅτι εἰς> γῆν ὁρᾷ); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, gamma, p. 310 (Γῆρας· παρὰ τὸ γέρας, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν τιμήν· οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ εἰς γῆν ἔρρειν <διὰ> τὸ ἐγγὺς εἶναι θανάτου· ἢ ὁ εἰς γῆν ὁρῶν καὶ βλέπων)
Comment
The punctuation is misplaced in the text, and ὁρᾶν is not a different etymon from νεύειν. The ἤ is explicative, "that is", and there should be a comma, not a dot (it is clearer in other formulations, see Parallels). The word is parsed as a compound with apocope of the initial vowel of the second element. It is a descriptive etymology referring to a feature of old people who become stooped and therefore look downward. It may be older than Orion since it is attested as a possible etymology for γέρων already in the D Scholia to the Iliad (see γέρων / γῆ + ὁράω): the etymology, originally designed for γῆρας, was transferred to γέρων