ἀράομαι
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀρᾶς
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ara
English translation (word)
prayer
Transliteration (Etymon)
araomai
English translation (etymon)
to pray
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 117
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842.
Quotation
Ἀρᾶς. παρὰ τὸ αἴρω τὸ ἐπαίρω, ἢ παρὰ τὸ εὔχομαι· καὶ εἰ μὲν σημαίνει τὴν εὐχὴν, γίνεται παρὰ τὸ αἴρω τὸ ἐπαίρω· οἱ γὰρ εὐχόμενοι εἰώθασι τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνειν· εἰ δὲ σημαίνει τὴν κατάραν, γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ τὸ ἐπεύχομαι, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν
Translation (En)
Arâs "of the prayer". From airō "to raise", or from "to pray". And if it means "prayer", it comes from airō "to raise", because praying people are used to raising their hands. But if it means "curse", it comes from arô which means "to pray", by antiphrasis
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 183 (Ἀρά· σημαίνει δύο· τὴν εὐχήν, καὶ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ αἴρω, τὸ εἰς ὕψος ἐπαίρω· καὶ γὰρ οἱ εὐχόμενοι εἰώθασι τὰς χεῖρας εἰς ὕψος αἴρειν. εἰ δὲ σημαίνει τὴν κατάραν γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἀρῶ, τὸ εὔχομαι, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν)
Modern etymology
From ἀρϝά preserved in Arc. κάταρϝος. No secure cognate out of Greek, maybe related to a Hittite verb meaning {to bow, to prostrate" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has αρά as a learned word for "curse", the usual form being κατάρα
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Complementary etymology by which Choeroboscus distinguishes two meanings, each with a different etymology. In the general meaning "prayer" ἀρά is assumed to be derived from αἴρω, but in the negative meaning "curse, malediction", it is assumed to come from the verb ἀράομαι. This is not explicit immediately at the beginning of the notice where ἀράομαι is replaced by the synonym εὔχομαι (elliptic etymology). The relationship between ἀρά and ἀράομαι is of course correct, except that in linguistic terms it is the opposite: the verb is derived from the noun.