βάλλω + ὤψ
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἐπιβλέπω
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
blepō
English translation (word)
to look
Transliteration (Etymon)
ballō + ōps
English translation (etymon)
to throw + eye
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 192
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842
Quotation
Ἐπέβλεψεν, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπιβλέπω, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ βάλλειν τοὺς ὦπας
Translation (En)
Epeblepsen: from epiblepō "to look at", the latter from "to throw" (ballein) "the eyes" (ōpas)
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 496 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 199 (Βλέφαρον: Τοῦ βλέποντος φάρος· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αἴρεσθαι ἐν τῷ βλέπειν· αἰρομένων γὰρ αὐτῶν ἡμεῖς βλέπομεν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ βάλλειν τοὺς ὦπας); Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam 21 (βλέπω ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ βάλλειν καὶ ἐμβάλλειν ἤτοι ἐπιστηρίζειν τοὺς ὦπας ἤτοι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τὸν ἄνθρωπον εἰς εἴ τι ἴδῃ)
Modern etymology
Unclear. The variant γλέπω could point to an initial labiovelar, as in βλέφαρον / γλέφαρον "eyelid" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Yes
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology implying several formal manipulations: syncope of the [a] in βαλ- > βλ- and change of the [ō] into [e] in -επ-. The etymology relies on the Greek conception according to which the eye is the source of sight and projects light onto the objects. Therefore "to look" is to throw light. The second element, the name of the eye, is taken metaphorically as an equivalent for "sight". The Etym. Magnum erroneously refers this etymology of βλέπω to βλέφαρον "eyelid", itself etymologized from βλέπω