ὁμοῦ + ῥέω

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No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

ὄμβρος

Transliteration (Word)

ombros

English translation (word)

storm of rain

Transliteration (Etymon)

homou + rheō

English translation (etymon)

together + to flow

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum, omicron, p. 117

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820

Quotation

Ὄμβρος. παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ῥεῖν, ὅμορος, συγκοπὴ καὶ πλεονασμὸς, ὄμβρος.

Translation (En)

Ombros ("storm of rain"): from homou ("together") rhein ("to flow"), *omoros; syncope and addition of a letter give ombros.

Comment

Compositional etymology relying on the fact that rain is water, therefore the -ros must refer to something related to water, hence "to flow". Then the omb- remained to be accounted for: as for many words in om-, the sequence was identified as the adverb ὁμοῦ "together", although the latter has a rough breathing which ὄμβρος does not have. The [r] is explained as resulting from the insertion of a letter, without further explanation. Greek grammarians had spotted the mechanism of epenthetic consonants in a sequence nasal + liquid (see βλίττω / μέλι), and this is explicit in the formulation of the Byzantine Etymologica ("the [m] cannot stand before [r]", see Parallels) but here the formulation does not hint at that phenomenon but simply says that a letter was added: the precision may have been in the original work or Orion and was dropped by the abbreviator

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 426 (Ὄμβρος, παρὰ τὸ βάρος, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α ἄβαρος ὁ πάνυ βαρὺς, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς ο ὄβαρος, καὶ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ α, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ ὄμβρος· ἐτυμολογεῖται παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ῥεῖν); ibid., p. 427 (Ὀμβρήματα, ἐκ τοῦ ὀμβρῶ, ὀμβρήσω· τὸ δὲ ὀμβρῶ παρὰ τὸ ὄμβρος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ βάρος, καθ’ ὑπερβιβασμὸν ἄβρος, τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς ο καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ ὄμβρος, ὁ βαρέως φερόμενος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ ῥόος, ὅμορος καὶ ὄμβρος, ἐπειδὴ τὸ ο οὐ δύναται εἶναι πρὸ τοῦ ρ, εἴτε κατὰ διάστασιν, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ· καὶ γίνεται ὄμβρος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 623 (Ὄμβρος: Παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ῥεῖν, ὁμόροος, ὅμορος, καὶ συγκοπῇ ὄμρος· καὶ ἐπεὶ τὸ μ πρὸ τοῦ ρ οὐ δύναται εἶναι, πλεονάζει τὸ β, καὶ γίνεται ὄμβρος, ὁ ὁμοῦ ῥέων καὶ κατερχόμενος. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ φέρω κατὰ συγκοπὴν φρὸς καὶ βρὸς, καὶ προσθήκῃ τοῦ ο, ὄβρος, ὥσπερ στοῦν ὀστοῦν, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ μ, ὄμβρος. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ βάρος βρὸς καὶ ὄμβρος, ὁ βαρέως φερόμενος); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.45 (ὄμβρος παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ ῥέειν ὁμόῤῥοος, καὶ ἐν συγκοπῇ ὄμβρος· ἐπεὶ τὸ μ πρὸ τοῦ ῥοῦ δασύνεται, ἔστι πλεονασμὸς τοῦ β); ibid., 1.54 (idem).

Modern etymology

Unclear. Lat. imber "rain" belongs with Skt. abhrá- "cloud" and cannot be directly compared with ὄμβρος. Loanword or contamination?

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes, as a learned word for "rain". The usual word is βροχή

Entry By

Arthur de Tocqueville