λῶ
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Λώβη: Ἡ ὕβρις ἡ ἐπὶ κακῷ περιβόητος. Παρὰ τὸ λῶ, τὸ θέλω, κατὰ ἀντίφρασιν, ἣν οὐδεὶς θέλει· ἢ παρὰ τὸ βλάβη. Ἢ ἐκ τοῦ λωβός· τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ λοβὸς, τοῦ διὰ τοῦ ο μικροῦ κατ’ ἐπαύξησιν· ἀπὸ μεταφορᾶς τῶν ἠκρωτηριασμένων· οἱ γὰρ παλαιοὶ τοὺς ἔν τινι ἀτοπήματι ἁλόντας ἐνυβρίζοντες τὰ ἄκρα τῶν ὤτων ἀπέτεμνον, ὡς καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς πρὸς τὸν Ἶρον. Καὶ ταῦτα ὁ Ὠρίων· ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς λέγει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ λαβὴ, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ ξίφος, γίνεται λάβη· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς ω, λώβη, ὡς φάρος φαριαμὸς φωριαμός
Translation (En)
Lōbē: the public offense for a crime. From lô "to wish", by antiphrasis, the one nobody wants. Or from blabē "damage" Or from *lōbos, which comes from lobos "lobe of the ear", through lengthening of the short [o], by metaphor from those who suffer amputation of the extremities. Because the Ancients, punishing cruelly those who were caught in some crime, used to cut off the extremity of the ears, as Homer says for Iros. And this is what Orion says. But Herodian says that from labē "taking, handle", which means "sword" [oxytone] comes *lábē [paroxytone], and through change of the [a] into [ō], lōbē, as in pharos "coat", *phariamos, phōriamos
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 570 (idem)
Bibliography
On the etymology, see P. Ragot, "Grec homérique λωβη ou l'offense faite à Achille : étude sémantique et étymologique", Revue de Philologie 76/2, 2002, pp. 243-275.
Comment
Negative etymology which is not an etymology a contrario strictly speaking: the public offense is what nobody wants, but "to wish" is not the opposite of "insult". Nevertheless, the principle of antiphrasis is the same. From the first person λῶ is derived λώβη