ἐράω

Word

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Wed, 08/24/2022 - 11:05

Word-form

γέρας

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

geras

English translation (word)

gift of honor

Transliteration (Etymon)

eraō

English translation (etymon)

to love, to desire

Author

Epimerismi homerici

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, gamma 26

Ed.

A.R. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici: Pars altera. Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.2] Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 1995: 59-761

Quotation

γέρων […] ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ ἐρᾷς καὶ γέρας (πᾶς γὰρ γέρατος ἐπιθυμεῖ)

Translation (En)

Gerōn "old man": […] or from erô "to desire", <second person> erâis "you desire", and geras "gift of honor" (because everyone desires honor)

Comment

The starting point ἐράω provides the second person ἐρᾷς, which is apparently identical to the stem *ερας found in ἐραστής, ἐραστός and other derivatives of ἐράω, provided one does not take into account the length of the [a] (resulting from a contraction in ἐρᾷς) or the iota: both were irrelevant in Byzantine Greek, where vocalic length was lost and the subscribed iota not pronounced. This intermediate form and is then submitted to a formal modification, the addition of a consonant at the beginning of the word. The γέρας is defined as the object of desire. The Etym. Symeonis shows a confusion with the explanation of γῆρας, which indeed was explained as a compound γῆ + ἐράω

Parallels

Etym. Parvum, gamma 2 (Γέρα· εὐθεῖα τῶν πληθυντικῶν· ἡ εὐθεῖα τῶν ἑνικῶν τὸ γέρας. παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἔρας καὶ γέρας· πᾶς γὰρ τὸ γέρας ἐπιθυμεῖ. σημαίνει δὲ τὴν τιμήν); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 126 (κέρας […] καὶ τὴν δόξαν, καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἔρας καὶ γέρας· τῆς γὰρ δόξης πάντες ἐπιθυμοῦμεν·) Etym. Gudianum, gamma, p. 305 (Γέρα <Β 237>· εὐθεῖα τῶν πληθυντικῶν· ἡ εὐθεῖα τῶν ἑνικῶν τὸ γέρας. παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἔρας καὶ γέρας· πᾶς γάρ τις γέρατος ἐπιθυμεῖ. σημαίνει δὲ τὴν τιμήν); ibid., p. 306 (Γεραρός· παρὰ τὸ γέρας· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ ἔρας καὶ γέρας. πᾶς γὰρ γέρατος ἐπιθυμεῖ καὶ τιμῆς); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 227 (Γέρας: Ἡ τιμή· παρὰ τὸ γῆρας· αἰδοῦς γὰρ ἄξιοι καὶ τιμῆς οἱ γέροντες. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐπιθυμῶ, ἔρας καὶ γέρας, οὗ πᾶς ἐρᾷ. Τὰ γέρα, ὅ ἐστι τὰς τιμάς); Etym. Symeonis, gamma 69 (Γέρας· ἡ τιμή· παρὰ τὸ γῆρας γέρας, αἰδοῦς γὰρ ἄξιοι οἱ γέροντες· ἢ παρὰ ἐρῶ ἔρας καὶ γέρας· πάντες γὰρ εἰς γῆρας ἥκειν ἐπιθυμοῦμεν); J. Tzetzes, Exegesis in Homeri Iliadem A.97-609, l. 117 (γέρας· τὸ ἐν γῇ ἐράσμιον· πᾶς γὰρ ἐν γῇ τιμῆς ἐρᾷ)

Modern etymology

Γέρας belongs to the inherited PIE root *g̑erh2- "old", and is connected within Greek with γῆρας, γέρων, and γραῦς (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

In Modern Greek the word "γέρασμα" is used, to designate the act of getting old (γέρος), coming from γέρασ- + -μα.

Entry By

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