εἶμι

Validation

No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

ἰός

Transliteration (Word)

ios

English translation (word)

poison

Transliteration (Etymon)

eimi

English translation (etymon)

to go

Author

Scholia in Oppianum

Source

Idem

Ref.

Scholia et glossae in Halieutica 2.471

Ed.

U.C. Bussemaker, Scholia et paraphrases in Nicandrum et Oppianum in Scholia in Theocritum (ed. F. Dübner), Paris: Didot, 1849

Quotation

ἱὸς τὸ βέλος δασύνεται, ἰὸς δὲ τὸ φάρμακον ψιλοῦται, καὶ τὸ μὲν δασυνόμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἵημι τὸ πέμπω γίνεται, τὸ δὲ ψιλούμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴω τὸ πορεύομαι

Translation (En)

ios "arrow" has a rough breathing, ios "poison" has a smooth one. And the one with rough breathing comes from hiēmi "to send", the one with smooth breathing from "to go"

Comment

Attempt at distinguishing two homonymous words by the presence or not of an initial aspiration, according to the assumed etymology, and without any semantic justification. This is the only explicit etymology for ἰός "poison" in our sources. However, in the etymology of the letter name iota (see Parallels), the justification is provided: the venom goes straight to the one whose fate it is to die. The starting point of the etymology is the participle ἰών, ἰόντος

Parallels

Commentaria in Dionysii Thracis artem grammaticam, Scholia Marciana, p. 321 (Τί ἐστιν ἰῶτα; Φωνῆεν δίχρονον ἀμετάβολον ὑποτακτικὸν <καὶ> τοῦ υ. Πόθεν ἰῶτα; Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ τῶν ἰοβόλων ζῴων· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἰὸς εἰς ὀρθὸν βαδίζει ᾧ πέπρωται, οὕτω καὶ ἡ τούτου γραφὴ ὀρθὴ οὖσα ἰῶτα καλεῖσθαι τέτακται· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ, ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ βέλος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 462 (ἰῶτα τὸ στοιχεῖον, παρὰ τὸν ἰὸν τῶν ἰοβόλων ζῴων· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἰὸς εἰς ὀρθὸν βαδίζει ᾧ καὶ πέπρωται, οὕτως καὶ ἡ τούτου γραφὴ, ὀρθὴ οὖσα, ἰῶτα καλεῖν ᾐνίξατο. Ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν ἰῶν τῶν βελῶν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, iota, p. 1140 (Ἰῶτα. τὸ στοιχεῖον. παρὰ τὸν ἰὸν τῶν ἰοβόλων ζώων. εἰς ὀρθὸν γὰρ βαδίζειν ὁ ἰὸς, ὡς καὶ ἡ τούτου γραφή. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ, τοῦ βέλους)

Modern etymology

Old inherited name o the poison, cognate with Lat. vīrus, Ved. viṣá- , Toch.B wase (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre