τραχύς

Validation

No

Word-form

τράχηλος

Transliteration (Word)

trakhēlos

English translation (word)

neck

Transliteration (Etymon)

trakhus

English translation (etymon)

jagged

Author

Hesychius

Century

5/6 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Lexicon, tau 1293

Ed.

I.C. Cunningham and P.A. Hansen, Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon, Vol. IV [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) Band 11/4. Berlin - New York: De Gruyter, 2009]

Quotation

τράχηλος· αὐχὴν τραχύς. σκληρός 

Translation (En)

Trakhēlos "neck", jagged (trakhus) and hard

Comment

Paronymic descriptive etymology, the name of the neck is etymologized after one of its characteristics: the posterior part of the neck is where the spine can be felt.

Parallels

Meletius, De natura hominis p. 91 (καὶ τράχηλος μὲν λέγεται, ἀπὸ τῆς τραχύτητος τῶν ἐκεῖσε ὀστῶν· ὀστῶδες γὰρ τὸ μέρος τοῦτο· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δι’ αὐτοῦ ῥεῖν, ἤτοι τρέχειν τὴν τροφήν· οἷον τρόχαλος); Etym. Gudianum, tau, p. 533 (Τράχηλος, παρὰ τὴν τῶν ὀστρέων τραχύτητα, ὀστῶδες γὰρ τὸ μέρος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δι’ αὐτοῦ τρέχειν τὴν τροφὴν, τρόχαλος καὶ τράχηλος. ἢ τράχηλος παρὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐξ ὀστέων τραχηλέων, καὶ οὐ σκληρῶν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 764 (Τράχηλος: Παρὰ τὴν τραχύτητα· ὀστῶδες γὰρ τὸ μέρος τοῦτο· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δι’ αὐτοῦ τρέχειν τὴν τροφὴν, οἷον τρόχαλος. Ἢ ὅτι τῆς ῥάχεως ὅλος ἐστὶ τράχηλος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ τραχὺς καὶ τὸ ἧλος, ὁ τραχεῖς ἥλους ἔχων. Ὅτε δέ φησιν Ὅμηρος, ‘ἁπαλοῖο δι’ αὐχένος’, κατ’ ἀντίφρασιν λέγει. Οὕτως Ὦρος); ibid., p. 563 (Καίτοι παρὰ τὸν αὐχμὸν αὐχὴν, καὶ τράχηλος, παρὰ τὸ τραχύ)

Modern etymology

Τράχηλος belongs with τρέχω "to run", older "to rotate", τροχός "wheel", and is so named because it is the axis allowing the rotation of the head (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word still exists in Modern Greek designating 1. the back bart of the neck, 2. the lower part of the womb.

Entry By

Le Feuvre