πολύς + λιμός

Word

Validation

No

Last modification

Tue, 06/01/2021 - 15:39

Word-form

βούλιμον

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ-1 .
LSJ-2

Transliteration (Word)

boulimos

English translation (word)

insatiable hunger

Transliteration (Etymon)

polus + limos

English translation (etymon)

much, many + hunger

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 694a

Ed.

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

Quotation

τὸ μὲν οὖν λιμὸν ἐδόκει μέγαν ἢ δημόσιον ἀποσημαίνειν, καὶ μάλιστα παρ’ ἡμῖν τοῖς Αἰολεῦσιν ἀντὶ τοῦ β τῷ π χρωμένοις· οὐ γὰρ βούλιμον, ἀλλὰ πούλιμον, οἷον πολὺν ὄντα λιμόν, ὀνομάζομεν

Translation (En)

First, as for the word bulimy (boulimos), it was agreed upon by all to denote a great and public famine, especially among us who use the Aeolic dialect, putting π for β. For it was not called by the ancients boulimos but poulimos, that is, polus limos, "much hunger" (transl. Goodwin)

Comment

Etymology playing on an alleged dialectal feature, the interchange of [b] and [p] in Aeolic. This allows Plutarch to derive βου- from πολύς, probably because he has in mind the Homeric form πουλύς with metrical lengthening, which provides the first syllable. The etymology is semantically straightforward

Parallels

Michael Psellus, De omnifaria doctrina 192 (Βούλιμος λέγεται ὁ μέγας λιμός, οἶον πούλιμος τίς, τουτέστι πολὺς λιμός)

Modern etymology

Compound of βοῦς "ox" and λιμός "hunger", lit. "ox-hunger"

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG has βουλιμία

Entry By

Le Feuvre
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