ἀ- + ἔχω
Word
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Ed.
Quotation
Ἄχος, παρὰ τὸ μὴ διαχεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ συνέχεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τῇ λύπῃ· ὅθεν τὸ χαίρειν εἴρηται, παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς. ἢ ὃ μὴ ἐθέλει τις ἔχειν. ἔχει αὐτὸς ἄχος
Translation (En)
Akhos "pain": from the fact that the soul, in grief, is "not relaxed", but oppressed. From where comes also khairein "to rejoice", from the fact that one is relaxed because of joy. Or that which one "does not" want to "have". ‘He himself has akhos’
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, alpha, p. 4 (Ἄχος, παρὰ τὸ μὴ διαχεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ συνέχεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τῇ λύπῃ· ὅθεν τὸ χαίρειν εἴρηται, παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς. ἢ ὃ μὴ ἐθέλει τὶς ἔχειν. ἔχει αὐτὸς ἄχος); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 1523 (Ἄχος Α 188· ἡ λύπη· παρὰ τὸ μὴ διαχεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ συνέχεσθαι τὴν ψυχήν, ὅθεν καὶ τὸ χαίρειν εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς. ἢ ὃ μὴ θέλει τις ἔχειν, αὐτὸ τὸ ἄχος. ὁ δ’ Ἀππίων (fr. 24 Bäumert = fr. 27 Neitzel) ἄχος τὴν λύπην τὴν σιωπὴν ἐπιφέρουσαν. παρὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀχεύων καὶ τὸ ἀκαχήμενος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 182 (Ἄχος: Ἡ λύπη. Ἐκ τοῦ χῶ τοῦ δηλοῦντος τὸ διαχεῖσθαι, (ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ χαίρω) γίνεται ἄχω, παρὰ τὸ μὴ διαχεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ συνέχεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ λύπης· ὅθεν καὶ τὸ χαίρειν εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ διαχεῖσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔχω, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν, ὃ οὐ θέλει τὶς ἔχειν. Ἢ χῶ τὸ χωρῶ, χός· μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ, ἄχος, τὸ μὴ χωρούμενον διὰ τὴν λύπην. Ἢ χῶ, τὸ χέω, μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ, ἄχος, τὸ μὴ χεόμενον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔχω); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 363 (Ἄχος. λύπη, σιωπὴν ἐπιφέρουσα. παρὰ τὸ μὴ διαχεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔχω, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν, ὃ οὐ θέλει τὶς ἔχειν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ χῶ, τὸ χωρῶ, γίνεται χὼς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ α ἄχος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ χέω μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ α ἡ μὴ διαχέουσα τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀλλὰ συνέχουσα)
Comment
The word is parsed as a privative compound like most words with initial [a]. The second element is identified as ἔχω "to have": the meaning "not having" which should result from that association was obviously unfit for ἄχος, and the problem is solved by assuming a modal verb which is explicit in the gloss, "to desire", but of which there is no trace in ἄχος. Compare the etymology provided for ἆθλον "toil", which is also something one does not want to have, and for which the proposed analysis combines the negation with the modal verb, while "to have" is dropped (see ἆθλον / ἀ- + ἐθέλω). Ἔχω is reduced to the consonant χ, the initial [e] is either dropped or contracted with the privative prefix. The ἔχει αὐτὸς ἄχος is probably a quotation intended to back the etymology by ἔχειν: ἔχω δ’ ἄχε’ ἄκριτα θυμῷ (Il. 3.412), ᾧ ἄχεϊ σχομένη (Od. 11.279), and with ἄχος as subject of ἔχω, οὕνεκά μ’ αἰνὸν || ἔσχεν ἄχος (H.Ven. 198-9)