ὄψομαι

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Wed, 06/02/2021 - 12:13

Word-form

ὄψις

Transliteration (Word)

opsis

English translation (word)

sight

Transliteration (Etymon)

opsomai

English translation (etymon)

I will see

Author

Etym. Magnum

Century

12 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 645

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford, 1848

Quotation

Ὡς μὲν Ποσειδώνιος, παρὰ τὸ ἅπτω ἅψω, ἁψίς τις οὖσα, ἡ φῶς ἐμποιοῦσα καὶ καταυγάζουσα τῶν ὑποκειμένων ἕκαστα, ὡς πῦρ· ὡς δέ τινες, παρὰ τὸ ἅπτω, τὸ συνάπτω, ἁψὶς καὶ ὀψὶς, ἢ διὰ τῶν ὁρατῶν ψαῦσιν ποιουμένη πρὸς κατανόησιν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸν ὄψω μέλλοντα.

Translation (En)

As Posidonius says, from haptō "to kindle", <future> hapsō, a hapsis "kindling", so to speak, that which produces light and illuminates each of the things it touches, as fire does. But for some, it comes from haptō "to touch", hapsis "touching" and opsis "sight", that which, because it touches the visible things, produces understanding. Or from the future opsō "I will see".

Comment

The link with ὄψομαι is correct, although of course ὄψις is not directly derived from the future stem. Starting from the future was a usual way to account for suffixes with [s] in Greek grammar.

Parallels

Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1494 (Ὄψις. διάκρισις χρωμάτων [καὶ σχημάτων] καὶ ὄγκων. παρὰ τὸ ἅπτω, τὸ συνάπτω, ἅψις καὶ ὄψις. ἡ διὰ τῶν ὁρατῶν ψαῦσιν ποιουμένη πρὸς κατανόησιν. ἢ παρὰ τὸν ὄψω μέλλοντα)

Modern etymology

Action noun derived from the old PIE root *h3ekw- "to see", found in Greek in ὄψομαι, ὄπωπα, ὄψ, ὀπτικός etc.

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG has όψη designating: 1. the result of seeing, 2. the surface of an object, 3. the appearance/form, 4. the aspect.

Entry By

Le Feuvre