λοιγός
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
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Source
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Ed.
Quotation
‘νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι’ (Il. 21.281): ἡ διπλῆ ὅτι ἐκ τούτου οἱ νεώτεροι ἐξεδέξαντο λευγαλέον τὸν δίυγρον· ἔστι δὲ κατὰ κοινωνίαν στοιχείων λευγαλέον ὀλέθριον, παρὰ τὸν λοιγόν. καὶ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ (β 61) λευγαλέοι τ’ ἐσόμεσθα.
Translation (En)
‘Now I am bound to die a miserable death’ (Il. 21.281): diplè because from this line post-Homeric poets understood leugaleos as meaning "liquid" (diugron). But leugaleos is, because of the community of the letters, ‘bringing death’, from loigos ‘ruin’. And also in the Odyssey, ‘we will be miserable’.
Parallels
Aristonicus, De signis Odysseae 5.312 = Schol. Od. ε 312a Pontani (ὅτι λευγαλέον θάνατον οἱ γλωσσογράφοι ἀποδεδώκασι τὸν ἐν ὑγρῷ, ἐκ τε τούτων καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑπ’ Ἀχιλλέως ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν ποταμὸν μάχῃ λεγομένων. ἄμεινον δὲ ὀλέθριον, παρὰ τὸν λοιγόν); Etym. Genuinum, lambda 72 (Λευγαλέον: τὸ ὑγρόν· ‘μύρῳ λευγαλέῳ’, Σοφοκλῆς· καὶ πάλιν· ‘νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ’· τῷ δι’ ὕδατος. παρὰ τὸ χεύω χευαλέον. σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τὸ ὀλέθριον παρὰ τὸ λοιγὸν λοιγαλέον· κατὰ μετάθεσιν τῶν στοιχείων λευγαλέον); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1, 226 Stallbaum (λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ ὅ ἐστιν ὀλεθρίῳ παρὰ τὸν λοιγὸν ἢ θανασίμῳ παρὰ τὸ λέγω τὸ κοιμίζω εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι. ὁποῖος δηλαδὴ σὺν ἄλλοις καὶ ὁ ἐν θαλάσσῃ); ibid., 1, 82 (Εἰσὶ δὲ λευγαλέοι, οἱ πρόχειροι εἰς λοιγόν. ἢ εἰς τὸ λέγεσθαι ὅ ἐστι κοιμᾶσθαι νήγρετον. τινὲς δὲ, καὶ τοὺς φεύγειν ἑτοίμους ἐνόησαν); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 273 Van der Valk (ἢ ἅμα μεταβάλλουσα τὸ ε εἰς ο καὶ τὸ υ εἰς ι, οἷον λευγαλέος λοίγιος, ὑφ’ ὧν δηλοῦται τὸ ὀλέθριον); Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam 74 (idem); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.375 (Λευγαλέοις· ὀλεθρίοις· λευγαλέον τὸ καταπληκτικόν· ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλεύω τὸ ἐκφεύγω γίνεται ἀλευλέον κατὰ παραγωγὴν, καὶ κατὰ μετάθεσιν λευαλέον καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ γ λευγαλέον. λευγαλέοις· ἀξίοις λόγου παρὰ τὸ λέγω πλεονασμῷ τοῦ υ, ἢ θανατηφόροις ἀπὸ τοῦ λέγω τοῦ κοιμῶμαι τοῖς κατακοιμίζουσιν εἰς θάνατον ἐξ οὗ καὶ κυνηγὸς, ἢ παρὰ τὸ λοιγὸς ὁ ὄλεθρος λοιγαλέος καὶ λευγαλέος, λευγαλέος δὲ κυρίως ὁ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ ὄλεθρος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 561 (Λευγαλέον: Τὸ ὑγρόν· Σοφοκλῆς, ‘Μύρῳ λευγαλέῳ’· καὶ Ὅμηρος Ἰλιάδος φʹ, ‘Νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι’, τουτέστι τῷ δι’ ὕδατος· ἢ χαλεπῷ, ἀδόξῳ· παρὰ τὸ χεύω, χευαλέον. Σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τὸ ὀλέθριον, παρὰ τὸ λοιγὸν λοιγαλέον· καὶ μεταθέσει τῶν στοιχείων, λευγαλέον)
Comment
The condemnation of the interpretation of λευγαλέος as "liquid", from this line where Achilleus thinks he will be drowned in the Scamander's waters, goes back to Aristarchus. That the derivational etymology by λοιγός goes back to him is not certain. He may have stopped at saying that the real meaning was "funest, bringing death", and the etymology may have been added later on. The interesting point is the remark "from the community of letters" between λευγαλέος and λοιγός, "community" which in fact is reduced to the consonant sequence [l]…[g], since the explanation implies a change in the vowels.