ἀΐσσω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
αἰγανέα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
aiganeē
English translation (word)
javelin
Transliteration (Etymon)
aïssō
English translation (etymon)
to dart
Source
Idem
Ref.
Scholia et glossae in Halieutica 1.712
Ed.
U.C. Bussemaker, Scholia et paraphrases in Nicandrum et Oppianum in Scholia in Theocritum (ed. F. Dübner), Paris: Didot, 1849
Quotation
Αἰγανέα τὸ ῥιπτάριον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀΐω τὸ ὁρμῶ· ἢ αἰγανέης καὶ καταπληκτικῆς. αἰγανέης· εἶδος ἀκοντίου παρὰ τὸ δίκην αἰγὸς νέεσθαι ταχὺ, τάχα δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἄγαν νέεσθαι καὶ πορεύεσθαι
Translation (En)
Aiganea "javelin", from aïō "to dart". Or because the aiganeē is striking. Aiganeēs: type of spear, from the fact that it moves quickly (neesthai) as a goat (aigos), but rather from the fact that it "moves" (neesthai) and runs "with force" (agan)
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
The word is isolated in Greek. The connection with Vedic éjati ‘to set in movement’ is uncertain (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
"Αίγα" is still used in Modern Greek, as well as "αιγο-" as first compound in composite words such as "αιγοτρόφος".
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology deriving αἰγανέη from ἀΐσσω (here under the assumed etymon *ἀΐω) is found only here, along with more frequent etymologies parsing the word as a compound. It is a descriptive etymology referring to the speed of the weapon. This explanation may have been suggested by the older one deriving αἰγανέη from the name of the goat, αἴξ (mentioned afterwards by the scholiast), since the latter is itself frequently derived from the verb ἀϊσσω "to dart, to leap" in ancient sources