κλείω

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Last modification

Sun, 07/18/2021 - 18:31

Word-form

καλός

Transliteration (Word)

kalos

English translation (word)

beautiful

Transliteration (Etymon)

kleiō

English translation (etymon)

to lock

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), kappa, p. 614

Ed.

F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818unc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 229-584

Quotation

καλὸς παρὰ τὸ κλείω· περὶ κλείει γὰρ περιτιθέμενος. κάλος παρὰ τὸ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸ ἕκαστον

Translation (En)

Kalos "beautiful": from kleiō "to shut", because it encloses when it is spread around. Kalos comes from the fact that it calls (kaleîn) everyone to itself

Comment

This weird etymology, found only here, is the result of a misunderstanding. In the main manuscript of Orion, the lemma before καλός is κλέος: Κλέος. παρὰ τὸ κλείειν. ἐγὼ δέ σε κλείω ἐπ’ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν. | Καλός. παρὰ τὸ κάζω, ῥῆμα, οὗ παρακείμενος κείρασμαι καὶ μέλλων κάσω. ἀφ’ οὗ καλὸς ὄνομα. ἢ παρὰ τὸ καλῶ καὶ καλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστον (Etymologicum, p. 84). The copyist of Orion merged two explanations, confusing κλέος with the following lemma καλός (because the shapes of Α and Λ are similar), and misunderstanding κλείω "to celebrate" (epic) for the homonymous verb κλείω "to shut", much more usual. He then provides a clumsy explanation for the etymon "to lock" by means of περικλείω "to enclose", in which the important element is the preverb περι-. The idea that men are "shut in" by beauty is a variant of the etymology by "to charm, to bewitch" (see καλός / κηλέω)

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

Older καλϝός. The closest cognate is Ved. kalyāṇa- "beautiful" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has the neuter καλό meaning "the good" as an abstract quality, and compounds in καλο-. The simple adjective was replaced by ωραίος "beautiful"

Entry By

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