ἄνω

Validation

No

Word-form

ἀνία

Transliteration (Word)

ania

English translation (word)

sorrow, trouble

Transliteration (Etymon)

anō

English translation (etymon)

to achieve

Author

Choeroboscus

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

De orthographia (epitome) p. 169

Ed.

J.A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 3, Oxford, 1836

Quotation

Ἀνία: Διὰ τοῦ ι· ἀπὸ τοῦ <'i>αἴνω, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ θεραπεύω· ἡ γὰρ ἀνία ἐστέρηται τῆς θεραπείας· καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἰέναι τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ θεραπεύεσθαι· ἡ γὰρ ἀνία ἐμποδιστική ἐστιν τοῦ  προκόπτειν· καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω, ἀνύω γέγονεν ἀνία, διανυστικὴ καὶ πρακτική

Translation (En)

Ania "sorrow": with [I]. From <I>ainō which means "to take care of", because sorrow is deprived from care. Or from ienai which means "to be cured"; because sorrow is an impediment to progress. And from anō "to achieve" comes ania, because it achieves its aim and is effective

Comment

The etymology by ἰαίνω is probably not by Choeroboscus, only the etymology by ἄνω "to achieve", explicitly attributed to him by the Et. Genuinum, is his. The etymology is formally simple, but semantically difficult: the Et. Magnum explains that it means that sorrow "consumes" the one who feels it, and this is the kind of achievement intended.

Parallels

Etym. Genuinum, alpha 895 (Ἀνία· λύπη· παρὰ τὸ ἰῶ, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ ὑγιάζω, γίνεται ἀνιῶ κατὰ στέρησιν καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν· ἡ γὰρ ἀνία ἐστέρηται τῆς ἰάσεως. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ ἀνύω, γίνεται ἀνία· διανυστικὴ γάρ ἐστι καὶ πρακτική, οἱονεὶ καταδαπανητική. οὕτως ὁ Χοιροβοσκός); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 148 (Γεωργίου Ἀνία· παρὰ τὸ ἰῶ, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ θεραπεύω· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω ἀνύω γέγονεν ἀνία, ἡ διανυστικὴ καὶ πρακτική. δεῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι τὸ ἀνία διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται· παρὰ γὰρ τὴν ἴασιν· καὶ ἐκτείνει τὸ ι· ἡ γὰρ ἴασις μακρὸν ἔχει τὸ ι); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 109-110 (Ἀνία: Σημαίνει τὴν χαλεπωτάτην καὶ δυσίατον λύπην. Παρὰ τὸ ἰῶ, τὸ θεραπεύω καὶ ὑγιάζω, γίνεται ἴα· καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν καὶ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ ν, ἀνία· ἐστέρηται γὰρ τῆς ἰάσεως. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω, ἀνία· ἐστέρηται γὰρ τῆς ἰάσεως. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄνω, ἀνία· διανυστικὴ γάρ ἐστι καὶ πρακτικὴ, οἱονεὶ καταδαπανητική)

Modern etymology

Unclear. See the various hypotheses in Beekes, EDG. The Lesbian form ὀνία makes it very unlikely that the word is a privative compound despite several attempts in that direction

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ανία with the meaning of 'boredom, lack of interest', as well as the derived adjective ανιαρός and the noun ανιαρότητα. The Modern Greek sense is a calque from French "ennui".

Entry By

Le Feuvre