ῥέω + ὀδωδή

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No

Last modification

Tue, 06/01/2021 - 15:39

Word-form

ῥόδον

Transliteration (Word)

rhodon

English translation (word)

rose

Transliteration (Etymon)

rheō + odōdē

English translation (etymon)

to flow + smell

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 648a

Ed.

G.N. Bernardakis, Plutarch. Moralia. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889 (2)

Comment

Descriptive compositional etymology referring to a characteristic feature of the flower, its smell. From ῥέω only the first consonant is retained, while ὀδωδή provides for [od]

Parallels

Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 3.8.71.5 (Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸ ῥόδον ἐπωνόμασται, φασίν, ὅτι πάμπολυ τῆς ὀδωδῆς ἀφίησι ῥεῦμα· διὸ καὶ θᾶττον μαραίνεται); J. Geometres, Progymnasmata VI.5, p. 21 (καὶ τί γὰρ ἐφάνης ἕτερον ἢ ῥόδον ῥέον εὐθὺς τὴν ὀδμήν;); Scholia in Theocritum (vetera) 5.93a (ῥόδον παρὰ τὸ θᾶττον ἀπορρεῖν· ῥοῶδες γάρ ἐστιν ἤτοι συντόμως φθειρόμενον. ἢ <ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥεῖν> ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὀδμὴν ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄζω)

Modern etymology

Loanword, maybe from Iranian (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ρόδο as a learned word and many compounds in ροδο-. The usual word is τριανταφυλλο "thirty-petal"

Entry By

Le Feuvre