λάβρος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
λάβρακα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
labrax
English translation (word)
basse
Transliteration (Etymon)
labros
English translation (etymon)
greedy
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).
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
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.