ἐντός + ῥέω

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Sat, 10/22/2022 - 19:00

Word-form

ἔντερα

Transliteration (Word)

enteron

English translation (word)

intestine, gut

Transliteration (Etymon)

entos + rheō

English translation (etymon)

inside + to flow

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, epsilon, p. 56

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820

Quotation

Ἔντερα. ἀπὸ τοῦ δι’ αὐτῶν ῥεῖν τὴν τροφὴν καὶ τὸ αὐτῆς περίττωμα· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰλοῦσθαι· οἷον ἔντελα τὰ ἐντὸς εἰλούμενα. οὕτως Σωρανός.

Translation (En)

Entera "intestine": from the fact that food flows (rheîn) through them as well as the surplus of it. Or from "to wind", the *entela, as it were, that which is winding (eiloumenon) inside (entos). This is what Soranus says

Comment

This compositional etymology, also found in Anastasius and Leo, may come from Soranus as the other etymology by ἐντός + εἰλέω. The word is parsed as a compound, which is Soranus' usual way of etymologizing. The etymology requires almost no formal manipulation. The intestine is the duct through which food, in a liquid form (hence ῥέω), passes through the body. The first etymon, ἐντός, is not mentioned, as obvious.

Parallels

Anastasius Sin., Viae dux 2.8. (ἔντερα διὰ τὸ τὰ ἐντὸς ῥεῖν); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 72 (ἔντερα δὲ λέγεται ἀπὸ τοῦ εἱλεῖσθαι, οἷον ἔντελα, τὰ ἐντὸς εἱλούμενα, ἢ δι’ αὐτῶν ῥεῖν τὰ τῆς τροφῆς περισσά); Suda, epsilon 1461 (Ἔντερον: ἕτερον, καὶ οὐχ ὅμοιον. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐντὸς ῥεῖν); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 249 (Ἐντὸς ῥέουσιν ἔντερα κεκλημένα); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 480 (Ὠρίωνος. Ἔντερα· παρὰ τὸ δι’ αὐτῶν ῥεῖν τὴν τροφήν· ἢ διὰ τὸ ἐντὸς ῥεῖν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐντὸς εἰλεῖσθαι, ἔντελόν τι ὄν, τὸ ἐντὸς εἰλούμενον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 310 (Ἔντερα: Οἱονεὶ ἐνδότερά τινα ὄντα· ἀπὸ τοῦ δι’ αὐτῶν ῥεῖν τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς τροφῆς περιττώματα· ἢ  παρὰ τὸ ἔνδον εἰλεῖσθαι); ibid., p. 344 (Ἔντερα: Διὰ τὸ ἐντὸς ῥεῖν, ἔντερα); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, epsilon, p. 738 (Ἔντερον. ἕτερον καὶ οὐχ ὅμοιον. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ῥεῖν ἐντός)

Modern etymology

Ἔντερον is connected within Greek with ἐντός and ἐν and goes back to an inherited *h1entero- "inside part", derivative of *h1en "in" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Modern Greek still has έντερο in vernacular and medical vocabulary to designate the digestive tube beginning from the stomach. There also is εντερο- as first compound, such as in εντεροπάθεια, εντερολογία etc.

Entry By

Le Feuvre