ἄγαν + ἅλλομαι
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀγάλλω
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
agallō
English translation (word)
to exult in
Transliteration (Etymon)
agan + allomai
English translation (etymon)
very + to leap
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Symeonis vol. 1, p. 18
Ed.
F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976
Quotation
ἄγαλμα (Δ 144)· ἀγαλλίαμα, καλλώπισμα, πᾶν ἐφ’ ᾧ τις ἀγάλλεται. ἄλλοι δὲ ἄγαλμα εἶπον τὸ ξόανον. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα παρὰ τὸ ἀγάλλω, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἀγλαόν, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ αἴγλη. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄγαν καὶ τὸ ἅλλω, τὸ πηδῶ
Translation (En)
agalma ("ornament, decoration"), agalliama, kallōpisma, any thing in which one "exults" (agalletai). But others called agalma the statue. The word agalma comes from agallō ("to exult in"); the latter comes from aglaon ("splendid"), which comes from aiglē ("brightness"). Or from agan ("very") and hallō ("to leap")
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Il. 4, 399 Van der Valk (ad Il. 20.222) (Τὸ δὲ «πώλοισι» θηλυκῶς προῆκται κατὰ Ἴωνας. Τὸ δὲ ἀγάλλεσθαι φαίνεται κατὰ κυριολεξίαν ἐνταῦθα λέγεσθαι, ὡς τῶν μητέρων πρὸς ἄγην ἢ ἄγαν ἁλλομένων ἐπὶ ταῖς πώλοις)
Modern etymology
Unclear. The connection with ἀγλαός is possible but no certain (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has the derivative αγαλλιάζω "to rejoice greatly", from hellenistic ἀγαλλι(ῶ), originating from ἀγάλλω. The form αγάλλομαι is a learned one and used in very specific cases.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The verb is parsed as a compound of ἄγαν. This is a very simple etymology which does not require any formal manipulation, since αγ(α)- was assumed to be the regular form of ἄγαν in compounds. From the semantic point of view, il relies on a description of a potential consequence: someone exulting in something "leaps constantly" out of joy. Eustathius seeks to justify this etymology by reference to a special line of the Iliad: Il. 20.221-222 τοῦ τρισχίλιαι ἵπποι ἕλος κάτα βουκολέοντο / θήλειαι, πώλοισιν ἀγαλλόμεναι ἀταλῇσι "and in his possession were three thousand horses who pastured along the low grasslands, mares in their pride with their young colts" (transl. Lattimore) – the mares are literally jumping around the foals. As ἀγάλλω is itself given as the etymon of ἀγλαός (see ἀγλαός / ἀγάλλω), this etymology was also transferred to ἀγλαός (see ἀγλαός / ἄγαν + ἅλλομαι)