ἀστραβής
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἀστράγαλος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀρθὴν καὶ ἀστραβῆ φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ...... καὶ πλεονάσαντος τοῦ ρ, ἀστράγαλος· οὐ πρὸς τὸ μένειν καὶ ἑστάναι γεγονώς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ κινεῖσθαι. <ἐπὶ> δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστέων τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ νώτῳ. παρὰ τὸ ἐμπεπάρθαι καὶ μὴ στρέφεσθαι. (Sturz prints ἐπεὶ δὲ)
Translation (En)
Astragalos "knucklebone": from the fact that it keeps one's walk straight and not twisted (astrabē) […] and through adjunction of the [r], astragalos. It was not created for the standing station but for motion. But when it refers to the other bones of the back, it comes from the fact that it is fixed <in the back> and that it "cannot turn" (mē strephesthai)
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), alpha, p. 611 (ἀστράγαλος παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβὴ καὶ ὀρθὴν φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν); Meletius, De natura hominis p. 130 (παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβῆ καὶ ὀρθὴν φυλάττειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ποδός· κυκλοῖ δὲ τὸν ἀστράγαλον τὸ κυκλοειδὲς λεγόμενον ὀστοῦν); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1325 (Ἀστράγαλος (Soran. fr. 19 Scheele)· ἐπὶ τοῦ ποδός· παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβῆ καὶ ὀρθὴν φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ποδός. ἢ ὁ μὴ πρὸς τὸ μένειν καὶ ἑστάναι γεγονώς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ κινεῖσθαι ἀστάγαλός τις ὤν, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ρ ἀστράγαλος. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστέων, οἷον τῶν νωτιαίων, παρὰ τὸ ἐμπεπάρθαι καὶ μὴ στρέφεσθαι μηδὲ κινεῖσθαι, κατὰ στέρησιν τοῦ α); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 159 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 219 (Ἀστράγαλος· παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβῆ καὶ ὀρθὴν φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ποδός); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 219 (Ἀστράγαλος· ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀρθὴν καὶ ἀστραβῆ φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ποδός, <ἀστράβαλος καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ β εἰς γ ἀστράγαλος. ἢ ἀστάγαλός τις ὤν, καὶ> πλεονάσαντος τοῦ ρ ἀστράγαλος, οὐ πρὸς τὸ μένειν καὶ ἑστάναι γεγονώς,⟧ ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ κινεῖ⟦σθαι. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστέων τῶν ἐν τῷ νώτῳ παρὰ τὸ ἐμπεπάρθαι καὶ μὴ⟧ στρέφεσ⟦θαι⟧ μηδὲ κινεῖ⟦σθαι⟧); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 3, 680 Van der Valk (καθάπερ ὁ σπονδύλου δηλωτικὸς ἀστράγαλος παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβὲς ἐτυμολογεῖται, οὕτω καὶ ὁ κατὰ πόδας, καὶ ὅτι ἐκ τοιούτων ἀστραγάλων καὶ τὸ ἀστραγαλίζειν καὶ μάστιγες ἀστραγαλωταί); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 313 (ἀστράγαλος δὲ εἴρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀστραβῆ καὶ ὀρθῶς φυλάττειν τὴν βάσιν. [ἐπὶ τοῦ ποδὸς καὶ τοῦτο. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστέων παρὰ τὸ ἐμπεπάρθαι καὶ μὴ στρέφεσθαι μήτε κινεῖσθαι, στερήσει τοῦ α.]); Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν, alpha 102 (ἀστράγαλος: παρὰ τὸ ἀστραβῆ καὶ ὀρθὴν φυλάσσειν τὴν βάσιν τοῦ ποδός)
Comment
The notice is fragmentary and the middle part is missing. The complete formulation is found in the Etym. Genuinum (see Parallels). Soranus gives here one etymology under two different forms, for the two referents of the noun ἀστράγαλος, which can refer either to the knucklebone or to one of the vertebrae. In both cases the word is derived from ἀστραβής "fixed, not twisted", privative compound on the root of στρέφω, στραβός (the derivation of ἀστραβής from στρέφω is attested in the Byzantine Etymologica). He then gives two semantic justifications: applied to the knucklebones, the name refers to the fact that they keep the walk straight, not twisted (that is, the meaning is factitive); applied to the vertebrae, it refers to the fact that they cannot twist or turn (that is, the meaning is intransitive). For the second meaning, the etymon is not given as ἀστραβής directly, but under the form of the verb μὴ στρέφεσθαι, which is an explicitation of ἀστραβής. In between comes another etymological explanation, also designed for the meaning "knucklebone", parsing the word as a privative compound of ἵσταμαι, which used to be in the missing part (see the complete formulation in Etym. Genuinum): the formulation "through adjunction of [r]" refers to the assumed etymon ἵσταμαι, not to the first etymon ἀστραβής. This second etymology should probably not be attributed to Soranus.