θέλγω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἀσελγής· παρὰ τὸ θέλγω, τὸ ἀπατῶ καὶ σκοτίζω· θέλγω οὖν θελγής καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α ἀθελγής καὶ ἀσελγής, ὁ εὐαπάτητος καὶ σκοτεινὸς κατὰ τὸν νοῦν
Translation (En)
Aselgēs ("licentious"): from thelgō "to cheat" and "to make dark". Thelgō, *thelgēs and with intensive a-, *athelgēs and aselgēs, i.e. cheating readily and dark as to the mind.
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 20 (Ἀσέλγεια· ἐκ τοῦ ἀσελγής· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ θέλγω, τὸ ἀπατῶ, μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α. οἱ δὲ λέγουσιν ἀπὸ Σέλγης πόλεώς τινος, ὅπου οἱ ἄνθρωποι κακῶς διακείμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἐκοινώνουν. μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α <ἀσελγής, ὁ> ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀσελγαίνων); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 152 (Ἀσελγής: Παρὰ τὸ θέλγω, τὸ ἀπατῶ καὶ σκοτίζω, θελγής· καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α, ἀθελγὴς, καὶ ἀσελγὴς, ὁ εὐαπάτητος καὶ σκοτεινὸς κατὰ τὸν νοῦν. Ἢ ὅτι Σέλγη πόλις ἐστὶ τῆς Πισιδίας, ὅπου κακῶς ἔζων οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐκοινώνουν· μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α· ὅθεν καὶ ἀσέλγεια, πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία, ἑτοιμότης πρὸς πᾶσαν ἡδονήν).
Comment
The word is correctly parsed as a privative compound. One formal manipulation is required, the change of the initial consonant: this may have been less of a problem in a state of language where θ was pronounced as the interdental fricative similar to Engl. [th], as is the case in Byzantine Greek. However, the semantic basis of this etymology is extremely weak: if one starts from the meaning "licentious", it can be related to the idea of seduction, therefore of enchantment.