κοῖλος

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No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

κάλαμος

Transliteration (Word)

kalamos

English translation (word)

reed

Transliteration (Etymon)

koilos

English translation (etymon)

hollow

Author

Theophrastus

Century

4-3 BC

Source

Idem

Ref.

Historia plantarum 8.3.2

Ed.

S. Amigues, Théophraste. Recherches sur les plantes, vol. 1-5, Paris: Les Belles Lettres

Quotation

Πάλιν ὁ καυλὸς τῶν μὲν γονατώδης καὶ κοῖλος—διὸ καὶ καλεῖται κάλαμος—, […]

Translation (En)

And the stem of the former is angular and hollow (koilos)—this is why it is called kalamos "reed"— […]

Comment

Derivational descriptive etymology implying a formal manipulation (change of the vowel).

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

Old word for "reed, straw", cognate with Lat. culmus, Ru. soloma "straw", Germ. halm (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has κάλαμος as a learned word. The usual word is καλάμι

Entry By

Le Feuvre