καλέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
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Ed.
Quotation
Καλός. παρὰ τὸ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κηλεῖν. πάντες γὰρ τῷ καλῷ κηλούμεθα
Translation (En)
Kalos "beautiful": from the fact that it calls (kaleîn) everyone to itself. Or from kēleîn "to charm, to bewitch", because we are all charmed by what is beautiful
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio 2610) p. 179 (Κάλλος· διὰ τὸ πρὸς αὐτὸ καλεῖν ); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456) 110 (idem); Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), kappa, p. 614 (κάλος παρὰ τὸ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἕκαστον); Hermias, In Platonis Phaedrum scholia 1, p. 14 (Φίλον γὰρ τὸ καλόν, κλητικὸν ὂν εἰς ἑαυτὸ καὶ ἐπιστρεπτικόν· διὸ καὶ «καλὸν» λέγεται παρὰ τὸ καλεῖν εἰς ἑαυτὸ τοὺς ἐρῶντα); Ps.-Dionysius Aeropagita, De divinis nominibus, p. 151 (καὶ ὡς πάντα πρὸς ἑαυτὸ καλοῦν, ὅθεν καὶ κάλλος λέγεται); J. Philoponus, De opificio mundi, p. 293 (καλὸν μὲν γὰρ εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ κηλεῖν καὶ θέλγειν ἢ παρὰ τὸ πρὸς ἑαυτὸ καλεῖν); ibid., p. 293 (οὐ καλὸν δὲ ὅμως· οὐ γὰρ κηλεῖ τὸν πάσχοντα οὐδὲ καλεῖ πρὸς ἑαυτά, τοὐναντίον δὲ λυπεῖ καὶ ἀλγύνει καὶ ἀποτρέπει τῆς αὐτῶν κοινωνίας); Rhetorica anonyma, Prolegomena in artem rhetoricam (olim sub auctore J. Doxopatre) vol. 14, p. 21 (καλὸν γὰρ εἴρηται παρὰ τὸ καλεῖν πάντα πρὸς ἑαυτό); Proclus,In Platonis Alcibiadem i 328 (ἐτύμως γάρ, εἴτε διὰ τὸ καλεῖν εἰς ἑαυτὸ κέκληται καλὸν εἴτε διὰ τὸ κηλεῖν καὶ θέλγειν τὰ πρὸς αὐτὸ δυνάμενα βλέπειν, ἐραστόν ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν· διὸ καὶ ὁ ἔρως πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἄγειν λέγεται τὸ ἐρῶν); Simplicius, Commentarius in Epicteti enchiridion 32 (Ὡς γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ καλὸν ἐκφανέστερόν ἐστιν, ἐπανθοῦν αὐτοῦ τῇ κρυφίᾳ ἑνώσει—διὸ θέλγει καὶ κηλεῖ τοῦτο καὶ καλεῖ πρὸς ἑαυτό, καὶ ἔρωτα πᾶσιν ἐναποτίκτει τῆς πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἐπιστροφῆς—); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 485 (Καλός: Ἐκ τοῦ κάλλος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάζω· ὁ μέλλων, κάσω· ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα, καλός. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ καλῶ, ἐκ τοῦ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον, ὡς ἀγαθὸν, ἐφ’ ὃ ἄγαν θέομεν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ κηλεῖν· πάντες γὰρ κηλούμεθα τῷ καλῷ καὶ θελγόμεθα. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ λῶ, τὸ θέλω); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1146 (Καλός. ἔστι ῥῆμα κάζω, τὸ κοσμῶ. ὁ μέλλων κάσω. ῥῆμα ὄνομα καλός. ἢ παρὰ τὸ καλῶ ῥῆμα γίνεται καλός· διὰ τὸ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον, ὡς ἀγαθὸν, ἐφ’ ᾧ ἄγαν θέομεν); Scholia in Theocritum (scholia vetera) 1.52 (καλάν: ἐπίθετον. ἔστι ῥῆμα κάζω, ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ κοσμῶ, ὁ μέλλων κάσω, ἀφ’ οὗ ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα καλὸς καὶ τὸ θηλυκὸν ἡ καλή. ἢ παρὰ τὸ καλῶ ῥῆμα γίνεται καλὸς διὰ τὸ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον, ὡς τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἐφ’ ᾧ ἄγαν θέομεν)
Comment
Paronymic etymology relying on the identity of the first three phonemes [kal]: it replaces the inflectional endings of the verbs by those of the noun. From the semantic point of view, the etymology is similar to that of ἀγαθός by θέω "to run" (see ἀγαθός / ἄγαν + θέω): the good or the beautiful attracts everyone. The same etymology is assumed for κάλλος "beauty" (all the more so in a state of the language in which geminate consonants were no longer pronounced), see below, Parallels