λοχάω

Validation

No

Word-form

λόχμη

Transliteration (Word)

lokhmē

English translation (word)

thicket, bush

Transliteration (Etymon)

lokhaō

English translation (etymon)

to lie in wait

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, lambda, p. 91

Ed.

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

Quotation

Λόχμη. ἀπὸ τοῦ λοχᾶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τόποις. ὁ δὲ Φιλόξενος παρὰ τὸ λάζω ῥῆμα. εὐληπτοτέρων ὄντων τῶν δασέων. λάζω οὖν λάξω μέλλων. ὄνομα λαχμὸς, ὡς παρὰ τὸ κράζω κράξω κραγμός· τὸ δὲ γ εἰς χ μεταπεσόντος, λαχμός. τούτου τὸ θηλυκὸν, λόχμη.

Translation (En)

Lokhmē "thicket": from the fact that one lays ambushes (lokhân) in such places. But Philoxenus derives it from the verb lazō "to seize", thick things being easier to grasp. Lazō, future laxō, noun lakhmos, as from krazō "to croak", kraxō and kragmos "croaking"; and the [g] having changed to [kh], *lakhmos; the feminine of the latter, lokhmē

Comment

Functional etymology: the name of the thicket is derived from one of its functions, to provide a shelter for ambushes. The derivation is explained in the Etym. Magnum: λοχάω → *λόχη → λόχμη. The relationship between λόχμη and λόχος, λοχάω is indeed correct from our modern point of view, but the semantic relationship is not the one assumed here. Lentz assumes the first etymology mentioned by Orion comes from Herodian, which is not certain (see Parallels)

Parallels

Herodian, Peri pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 289 (idem, taken from Orion); Hesychius, Lexicon, lambda 1315 (λόχμη· ἐνέδρα, ἐπιβουλή. ἢ σύμφυτος τόπος τ 439 r. ASvgn. ἢ κρύφιμος, δασεῖαν ὕλην ἔχων, ὥστε ἐνλοχίσαι); Etym. Gudianum, lambda, p. 373 (Λόχμη, θάμνος, ὕλη, σύνδενδρος τόπος, παρὰ τὸ λοχᾷν ἐν αὐτῷ, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἐνεδρεύειν· ἔστι οὖν λοχῶ, λόχη, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ λόχμη); Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν, kappa 3 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 570 (Λόχμη: Θάμνος, ὕλη, σύνδενδρος τόπος· παρὰ τὸ λοχᾶν ἐν αὐτῷ, τουτέστιν ἐνεδρεύειν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τόποις. Λοχῶ οὖν, λόχη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ, λόχμη. Ὁ δὲ Φιλόξενος, παρὰ τὸ λάζω ῥῆμα, εὐληπτοτέρων ὄντων τῶν δασέων. Ὁ μέλλων, λάξω, ὄνομα, λαγμός· ὡς παρὰ τὸ κράζω κράξω κραγμός· τοῦ δὲ γ εἰς τὸ χ μεταπεσόντος, λαχμός· τούτου τὸ  θηλυκὸν, λόχμη); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.20 (λόχμαι παρὰ τὸ λοχᾷν ἐν αὐτῷ τουτέστι ἐνεδρεύειν· ἔστιν οὖν λόχη καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ λόχμη)

Modern etymology

Λόχμη belongs with λόχος "ambush", λέχος "bed" and means etymologically "lair" of a wild animal, that is, the place where the animal lives. Built from PIE root *legh- "to lie down" found in Lat. lectus "bed" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word still exists in Modern Greek, designating the 'deep part of a forest with dense vegetation, where wild animals find a refuge'.