κείρω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

κόμη

Transliteration (Word)

komē

English translation (word)

hair

Transliteration (Etymon)

keirō

English translation (etymon)

to cut

Author

Epimerismi homerici

Century

9 AD ?

Source

Id.

Ref.

Il. 1.36b2

Ed.

A. Dyck, Epimerismi homerici, pars prior epimerismos continens qui ad Iliadis librum A pertinent, Berlin 1983

Quotation

κόμη παρὰ τὸ κείρω, κόρη, τροπῇ τοῦ ρ εἰς μ, κόμη · ἢ παρὰ τὸ κόσμον αὐτὴν εἶναι τοῦ σώματος

Translation (En)

komē hair” is from keirō “to cut”, ‹hence› *korē cutting”, and by changing the [r] into [m], komē. Or because it is the kosmos “ornament” of the body

Comment

*korē "cutting" is a ghost-word invented for the sake of the etymological explanation. The etymology relies on the regular vowel alternation e ~ o (seen for instance in λέγω ~ λόγος) plus a "change" of a consonant. Semantically, it implies that hair differs from body hair in that it has to be cut regularly.

Parallels

Etymologicum Magnum, Kallierges p. 527 (Κόμη: Ἐκ τοῦ κείρω, τὸ κόπτω, κόρη· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ρ εἰς μ, κόμη, ἡ θρίξ. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ κόσμον εἶναι τοῦ σώματος· ὥσπερ γὰρ κόσμον ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐνέθηκε τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὰς τρίχας. Οἱ δὲ, παρὰ τὸ κομεῖν, τὸ ἐπιμελείας ἀξιοῦσθαι)

Modern etymology

Unclear. Borrowed in Latin as coma (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Κόμη is used in Modern Greek as an erudite form to denote: a) the 'hair' and b) the 'leaves of a tree' (Triandafyllidis Dictionary of MG).

Entry By

Le Feuvre