λῶ
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
κάλλος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
kalos
English translation (word)
beautiful
Transliteration (Etymon)
lō
English translation (etymon)
to want, to wish
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 182
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842
Quotation
Κάλλος, παρὰ τὸ κάζω, τὸ κοσμῶ, ἢ παρὰ τὸ λῶ τὸ θέλω, ἢ παρὰ τὸ κηλῶ, τὸ θέλγω, καὶ ἀπατῶ· διὰ γὰρ τῶν καλῶν κατακηλούμεθα, καὶ θελγόμεθα, καὶ ἀπατώμεθα.
Translation (En)
Kallos "beauty": from *kazō "to be in order"; or from lô "to wish"; or from kēlô "to charm, to beguile", because we are charmed, bewitched and milled by beautiful things
Parallels
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)
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
The etymology is barely understandable because the lemma and the etymon share only the last syllable. However, it seems to be transferred from another word, λῴων "better". The latter is a suppletive comparative of "good" and καλόν is "the good". Λῷων, λῷστος is etymologized by λῶ "to want", and this etymology was transferred from the comparative to the positive. The subsequent step implies the adjunction of the syllable [ka].
Cf. Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 570: Λώϊον: Παρὰ τὸ λῶ, τὸ θέλω· καὶ τὸ συγκριτικὸν, λῴων, ὡς ῥᾴων· καὶ ὄνομα ἐξ αὐτοῦ, λώϊος, καὶ λώϊον· τὸ γὰρ καλὸν πάντες θέλομεν "lōion "better" comes from lô "to wish", the comparative is lōiōn, as rhaiōn "easier", and the adjective from it, lōios and lōion; because we all wish the good"