Etymology found only here, implying a contraction in γεηρός, although the contraction yields a long vowel, so that η is expected, not ε. But since there is a general porosity between the explanations provided for γέρων and for γῆρας, this may be yet another instance of that. The old man is defined as being "dry" like earth, deprived of sap. Earth here refers, not to the place toward which the old man is going (that is, death), as in the competing etymology which is rejected (γῆ + ῥέω), but to the material to which the body is compared