αὔω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἦχος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ēkhos
English translation (word)
sound
Transliteration (Etymon)
auō
English translation (etymon)
to dry up
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 440
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford 1848
Quotation
Ἦχος: Παρὰ τὸ χέω, μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α, ἄχος καὶ ἦχος, ἡ εἰς ἀέρα χεομένη φωνή· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αὔω· τὰ γὰρ ξηρὰ ἠχεῖ
Translation (En)
Ēkhos "sound": from kheō "to pour", with the intensive alpha, *akhos and ēkhos, the voice poured into the air. Or from auō "to dry up", because dry matters resound
Modern etymology
Within Greek, belongs with ἠχή "sound", ἠχώ "echo", ἰάχω "to shout". Cognate with OEngl. swogan "sound", Lith. svagėti "to sound" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Ήχος is still used in Modern Greek to designate: 1. any perceptible sound, 2. each of the eight manners in which the ecclesiastical malodies are sang in Orthodox churches. Ηχο- is a very productive stem in MG and can be traced in compounds as ηχολήπτης.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology obviously relies on a misunderstanding. The source of the Et. Magnum had "from αὔω meaning to yell", but that was in the process of copying reduced to "from αὔω", which the compiler of the lexicon understood as the verb from which αὗος "dry" is derived (Etym. Genuinum, alpha 156: ἀπὸ τοῦ αὔω, τὸ ξηραίνω; see αὔω / ἀ- + ὕω) and then tried to make something out of it, coming up with the explanation "dry things resound"