ἀ- + μῶλος
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English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Ἀμβλύς, ὁ μὴ εὐθετῶν εἰς πόλεμον. ἀμωλύς· καὶ ὡς ἵππος ἱππύς· καὶ μῶλος μωλύς. καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν ἀμωλύς· καὶ συγκοπῇ ἀμβλὺς πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β. καὶ εἰς τὸ Ἀμπλάκημα
Translation (En)
Amblus "blunt", the one not fit for war. And as there is hippus from hippos "horse", there is *mōlus from mōlos "toil and moil" of war, and with the privative particle *amōlus, and through syncope and addition of [b] amblus. See also Amplakēma "fault"
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 109 (idem); Etym. Genuinum, alpha 615 (Ἀμβλύς· ὁ σίδηρος ὁ μὴ ὀξύς· παρὰ τὸ μῶλος, ὅ ἐστιν ἐγχρονισμὸς τῆς μάχης, γέγονε μωλύς, ὡς ἵππος Ἱππύς, καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν ἀμωλύς, ὁ μὴ ἐπὶ μῶλον καὶ πόλεμον ἐπιτήδειος· συγκοπῇ καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β ἀμβλύς. οὕτως Ὠρίων); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 79 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 109 (Ἀμβλύς· ὁ σίδηρος ὁ μὴ ὀξύς· παρὰ τὸ μῶλος μωλύς, μετὰ τοῦ στερητικοῦ α ἀμωλύς, ὁ μὴ ἐπὶ μῶλον (ὃ σημαίνει τὸν πόλεμον) ἐπιτήδειος, καὶ συγκοπῇ τοῦ ω καὶ προσθέσει τοῦ β ἀμβλύς, ὁ μὴ εὐθετῶν εἰς πόλεμον); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 142 (Ἀμβλύς. ἀσθενὴς, βραδύς. ἀμβλὺς καὶ ὁ μὴ ὀξὺς σίδηρος. παρὰ τὸ μῶλος, ὃ ἔστιν ἐγχρονισμὸς τῆς μάχης, γέγονε μωλὺς, ὡς ἵππος, ἱππύς· καὶ κατὰ στέρησιν ἀμωλύς, ὁ μὴ ἐπὶ μῶλον καὶ πόλεμον ἐπιτήδειος· καὶ συγκοπῇ καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ β ἀμβλύς)
Comment
As most words with initial [a] expressing a negative quality, this one is parsed as a privative compound. The second element is identified as the archaic μῶλος, found in the Homeric phrase μῶλον Ἄρηος "the toil and moil of Ares". The ἀμβλύς weapon is "without toil and moil", which is understood as "not fit for toil and moil". The etymology is specifically meant to account for the use of the adjective as an epithet of weapons, the use for sight being secondary (this is implicit in Orion). The etymology implies first a derivation (μῶλος → *μωλύς), then two formal manipulations, a syncope and the insertion of [b] (the latter relying on the well identified cases of epenthetic [b] in a sequence [ml])