The etymology deriving βρέχω from βάλλω via an intermediate step βλῶ, then βρῶ, goes back to Philoxenus' method. Its presence in the Byzantine Etymologica makes it likely that it was in Orion's Etymologicum. From the formal point of view, it starts from a monosyllabic verb form βλῶ, which through a change of the consonant becomes βρῶ, from which is derived βρέχω. The change of [l] into [r] was inferred from the well identified cases of liquid dissimilation in Greek words – however, the latter phenomenon occurs only if there are two identical liquids in the same word, which was not always understood by Greek etymologists. From the semantic point of view, the etymology refers to the conception of Zeus, sky-god, as sending the rain, which is so to speak "thrown" by him