ἀ- + ἵστημι
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English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
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
Translation (En)
Astragalos "knucklebone": for the foot; from the fact that it keeps the walking foot straight and "not twisted" (astrabē). Or that which was "not" created for the "standing station" (hestanai) and for staying motionless, but for motion, an *astagalos, as it were, and through adjunction of the [r], astragalos. 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) or move, with the privative a-
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Aditamenta, alpha, p. 219 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 159 (idem); Orion, Etymologicum, alpha, p. 16 (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. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὀστέων τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ νώτῳ. παρὰ τὸ ἐμπεπάρθαι καὶ μὴ στρέφεσθαι); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 270 (ἀστράγαλος· ἐπὶ τοῦ ποδός· παρὰ—11 τὴν βάσιν. ἢ ὁ μὴ ἀστάγαλός τις ὢν <καὶ ἀστράγαλος> πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ρ. ἐπὶ τοῦ α)
Comment
This etymology is attested in Orion, but part of the text is missing. It seems to be an alternative explanation introduced between the two parts of the etymology given by Soranus (see ἀστράγαλος / ἀστραβής). This etymology is not found in Meletius. The word is parsed as a privative compound of ἵστημι, and this etymology is valid only for the meaning "knucklebone". It implies a formal manipulation, the adjunction of an [r], explicit in the formulation. This etymology explains the name of the bone through its function, which is to allow movement.