νόος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ὄνειρος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
oneiros
English translation (word)
dream
Transliteration (Etymon)
noos
English translation (etymon)
mind
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, omicron, p. 113
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Ὄνειρος. ἤτοι παρὰ τὴν ὄνησιν, ἢ οἷον παρὰ τὸ ὀνῶ ὄνειρος, ὡς παρὰ τὸ πέπω πέπειρος, ἢ παρὰ τὸ εἴρειν καὶ λέγειν, ἢ κατὰ μετάθεσιν τοῦ ο. νοηρός τις ὤν.
Translation (En)
Oneiros "dream": either from onēsis "the profit", that is to say from onō "to profit", comes oneiros, as from pepō comes pepeiros, either from eirein and legein, or with a metathesis of the [o], a *noēros "thoughtful", as it were.
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Od. 2, 219 Stallbaum (οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐξ ἐλεφάντων ὄνειροι ἐξ αἰσθήσεώς εἰσιν, ἢ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν, ἐκ γῆς μελανοπτερύγων μητρὸς ὀνείρων· οἱ δ’ ἐκ κεράτων ἐκ μετεώρου τινὸς, καὶ ὡς εἰπεῖν, οἱ μὲν ἐκ νοῦ καὶ νοερᾶς καταστάσεως, οἱ δὲ ἔκ τινων σωματικῶν καὶ ἀλόγων δυνάμεων.).
Modern etymology
Derivative of the older ὄναρ "dream". Isolated within Greek. Cognate with Arm. anurǰ "dream" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has the neuter noun όνειρο "dream"
Entry By
Arthur de Tocqueville
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on a formal manipulation, a metathesis of [o] and [n]. The etymology implies a iotacizing state of the language, with η and ει both pronounced [i]: [oniros] / [noïros]. That means that the etymology works on the phonological level and not on the graphic one. From the semantic point of view, the dream, being sent by the gods to provide an advice, is what makes men thoughtful: the etymon is the aim of the lemma.