ἅμα
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἄμη, τὸ σκαφεῖον· παρὰ τὸ ἀθροῖσαι καὶ ἐπισπᾶν· ἔνθεν καὶ τὸ ἀμήσατο παρὰ τῷ Ποιητῇ ἐπὶ τοῦ θερίζειν, παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ἐπισπᾶν
Translation (En)
Amē "the shovel": from the fact that it assembles and draws together; from where comes also the amēsato "he reaped" by Homer, for "to reap corn", from the fact that one draws together (homou)
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456) 32 (Ἀμᾶν: ἠμᾶσθαι· ἐπὶ τοῦ θερίζειν. παρὰ τοῦ ὁμοῦ ἐπισπᾶν); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio 2610) p. 175 (idem); Hesychius, Lexicon, alpha 3426 (ἀμᾶν· θερίζειν vgS ἀπὸ τοῦ ἅμα Σ ἀνέχειν); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 609 (Ἀμᾶν (Ω 451)· τὸ θερίζειν· παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ἐπισπᾶν, οἷον ἁμασπᾶν. οὕτως Ὠρίων); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 76 (idem); Συναγωγὴ λέξεων χρησιμῶν, alpha 356 (ἀμᾶν· θερίζειν, παρὰ τὸ ἅμα); Photius, Lexicon, alpha 1097 (idem); Choeroboscus, De spiritibus (excerpta) p. 190 (Ἀμῶ, τὸ θερίζω. Ἄμη, ἡ δρεπάνη. τινὲς δὲ δασύνουσι τὴν ἅμην, ἐτυμολογοῦντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ἅμα πολλοὺς τέμνειν στάχυας)' Etym. Genuinum, alpha 646 (Ἀμᾶν (Ω 451)· τὸ θερίζειν· παρὰ τὸ ἅμα ἀμῶ, τὸ ἅμα καὶ ὑφ’ ἓν πολλὰ ἕλκω); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, alpha 340 (ἀμῶ: τὸ θερίζω· παρὰ τὸ ἅμα ἀμῶ (ἀμᾶ<ν> γὰρ τὸ ὑφ’ ἓν ἐπιλαμβάνειν)); Lexica Segueriana, alpha, p. 78 (ἀμᾷν: θερίζειν, παρὰ τὸ ἅμα); Suda, alpha 1484 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 106 (Ἀμᾶν· παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ἐπισπᾶν ἐπὶ τοῦ θερίζειν); ibid., alpha, p. 127 (Ἀμῶ· παρὰ τὸ ἅμα· ἀμᾶν γὰρ λέγεται τὸ ὑφ’ ἓν ἐπιλαμβάνειν); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 4, 251 Van der Valk (οἱ δ’ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὸ ἀμᾶν ἐκ τοῦ ἅμα παράγουσιν, ἵνα δηλοῖ τὸ ὑφ’ ἓν πολλὰ ἕλκειν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 358 (Ἀμᾷν. τὸ θερίζειν. καὶ ἀμῶ ὁμοίως. παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ἐπισπᾷν, οἷον ἀμασπᾷν).
Comment
The formulation is clearer in other versions of Orion's Etymologicum (see Parallels): what is meant is that ἄμη "shovel" is derived from ἅμα "together", except that the etymon ἅμα is not given explicitly but replaced in the gloss by its synonym ὁμοῦ; and that from the same ἅμα is derived ἀμάω, to which belongs the Homeric aorist ἀμήσατο. This is an elliptic etymology. From the formal point of view, it does not imply any change except the loss of the initial aspiration (which led some grammarians to write ἁμάω with a rough breathing, see Choeroboscus under Parallels). From the semantic point of view, it relies on the notion of gathering the corn ears implied by "to reap" rather than the notion of cutting.