λάβρος

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Fri, 08/27/2021 - 09:20

Word-form

λάβρακα

Transliteration (Word)

labrax

English translation (word)

basse

Transliteration (Etymon)

labrosunē

English translation (etymon)

greed

Author

Oppian

Century

2 AD

Source

Id.

Ref.

Halieutica 2.130

Ed.

E.W. Mayr, Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus, Harvard UP, 1928

Quotation

Καρῖδες […] ἄλκιμον ὤλεσαν ἰχθύν,/ λάβρακα, σφετέρῃσιν ἐπικλέα λαβροσύνῃσιν.

Translation (En)

Prawns […] by their craft they destroy a valiant fish, even the “labros” (Basse) named for its “labrosunē” (gluttony).

Comment

The word is linked to both λάβρος (violent/greedy) and βορά (food). See Scholia in Oppianum (Bussemaker 1849, 2.130.1) : Λάβρακα· λίαν βορόν· λάβραξ ὁ λίαν βορὸς, ἢ λαίμαργος, λαβροσύνη δὲ παρὰ τὸ λίαν βιβρώσκειν· Cf. Eustathius (in Il. Van der Valk 1979, 3.773.23) : ὁ λάβραξ διὰ τὸ λίαν βορόν παρὰ τὸ λα ἐπιτατικὸν μόριον, καὶ τὸ βορὰ.

Parallels

See also Scholia in Aristophanem, Scholia in equites 361a.1 (Jones, Wilson, Groningen 1969) : <ἀλλ' οὐ λάβρακας:> λάβραξ εἶδος ἰχθύος <λάβρου>, ἀφ' οὗ ποιεῖται τὴν προσηγορίαν. Eustathius in Il. 3.829.18-19 (Van der Valk 1979): τὸν Μιλήσιον λάβρακα, ὃν ἡ ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν λαβρότης παράγει. Etymologicum Gudianum Λ 359.42 (Sturz 1818) : λάβορος καὶ συγκοπῇ λάβρος καὶ λάβραξ παρωνύμως ; cf. Etymologicum Magnum Λ 554.4 (Gaisdorf 1848).

Bibliography

R. Strömberg, Studien zur Etymologie und Bildung der griechischen Fischnamen, 1943 : 34

Modern etymology

Same etymology (λάβρος) in Chantraine (1968, 610)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The form "λαβράκι", diminutive of "λάβραξ" (from ancient "λαβράκιον") is used in MG to denote the specific fish, but also metaphorically to designate a successful discovery (e.g., for a journalist: "έπιασε λαβράκι") (Triandafyllidis Dictionary of MG).

Entry By

Arnaud Zucker