κλείω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
καλός
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
kalos
English translation (word)
beautiful
Transliteration (Etymon)
kleiō
English translation (etymon)
to lock
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
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
Le Feuvre
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)