βάλλω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ὀβολός
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
obolos
English translation (word)
obol
Transliteration (Etymon)
ballō
English translation (etymon)
to throw
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Comm. Il., vol. 1, p. 208
Ed.
M. van der Valk, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols. 1-4, Leiden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987.
Quotation
ἔοικε δὲ παρὰ μὲν τῷ ποιητῇ ταὐτοδύναμα εἶναι ὁ ὀβολὸς καὶ ὁ ὀβελός, σκεῦός τι μαγείρου ἐν τῷ ἄκρῳ ὀξὺ καὶ βάλλειν δυνάμενον καὶ βολὴν ὡς βέλους ποιεῖν·
Translation (En)
It seems that, in Homer, obolos "obol" and obelos have the same meaning: some cook's ustensil sharp at the extremity, that can be thrown (ballein) and make a wound like one of a missile.
Parallels
Eustathius, Comm. Od. Stallbaum, vol. 1, p. 41 (τοῦτο μέντοι, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς βολῆς ἢ τοῦ βόλου, ἀλλὰ ἐκ τοῦ ὀβολοῦ. ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς, ἐκ τῆς βολῆς καὶ τοῦ βάλλειν γίνεται καθὰ καὶ ὁ ὀβελός. ὃς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ βέλους δύναται εἶναι πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ο. ἀφ’ ὧν ἤτοι τοῦ ὀβολοῦ καὶ τοῦ ὀβελοῦ, τὸ Ὁμηρικόν τε πεμπώβολον, καὶ ἄρτος ὀβελίας ὁ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀβελοῖς ὀπτώμενος)
Modern etymology
Attic form of ὀβελὀς, with vowel assimilation (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has οβολός (learned word) as the name of Ancient Greek coins and in the metaphoric meaning "small contribution in money". The usual word is όβολο "small coin" (from διώβολος "two obol coin")
Entry By
Arthur de Tocqueville
Comment
The etymology is implicit: rather than describing one word as derived from the other, Eustathius says the two have the same meaning. In fact, Homer does not have ὀβολός but only ὀβελός. Eustathius' remark implies that in some manuscripts the Attic form ὀβολός was used instead of the Ionic one ὀβελός. It remains that he considers them as two different words, which have the same meaning, and probably assumes the one is derived from the other by means of a pathos (a formal change not affecting meaning).