ἕπομαι + ὥρα
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ὀπώρα
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
opōra
English translation (word)
end of summer
Transliteration (Etymon)
hepomai + hōra
English translation (etymon)
to follow + season
Century
2 AD
Source
Orion
Ref.
Etymologicum, omicron, p. 119
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820
Quotation
Ὀπώρα. παρὰ τὸ ἕπεσθαι τῇ ὥρᾳ. Ἡρακλείδης οὕτω
Translation (En)
Opōra "end of the summer": from the fact that it "follows" (hepesthai) the "season" (hōra). So says Heraclides
Parallels
Etym. Parvum, omicron 10 (Ὀπώρα· παρὰ τὸ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἕπεσθαι ἤγουν ἐπακολουθεῖν); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 432 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 628 (Ὀπώρα: Παρὰ τὸ ἕπεσθαι τῇ ὥρᾳ)
Modern etymology
Ὀπώρα is an old compound of ὀπί (variant of ἐπί) + an old name of the autumn *h1os-r/n-, cognate with Goth. asans "harvest", Rus. osen' "autumn" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has οπώρα and οπωρικά (plural of οπωρικό) as a learned word for "fruit". There also are many compounds as οπωροπωλείο and preserves the compound φθινόπωρο "autumn".
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The connection of ὀπώρα with ὥρα "season" is probably much older than Heraclides and can be suspected in many co-occurrences of the two words. It is not clear whether Heraclides really understood the first element of the compound as the verb ἕπομαι or as the preposition ἐπί "after", which he explained as "following"