μῶλυς ῥίζα

μῶλυς, υ, gen. ῠος,

A soft, weak, feeble, μ. ἐπιστείβων, of a serpent, Nic.Th.32, cf. Sch.

2 metaph., weak in intellect, dull, Demetr. Lac.Herc.1014.58, Hsch. (who also has [comp] Comp.), cf. S.Fr. 693; also

μωλύτερον φαίνεσθαι τὸν λόγον Socr.Ep.30.14

.

II μῶλυς ῥίζα, = μῶλυ 1, Lyc.679.

Grammatical information: n.

Meaning: name of an unknown plant (κ 305, Com. adesp. 641), by later authors (Plin., Dsc., Ps.-Dsc., Poet. de herb.) differently identied, after Thphr. HP 9. 15, 7 Arcad. name of a kind of garlic `Allium nigrum'; also μῶλυς ῥίζα (Lyk. 679). See Ferrari Ist. Lomb. 88, 12ff.

Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin](X)

Etymology: Foreign word of unknown origin; cf. Henry Class. Rev. 20, 434 f., André Rev. de phil. 84, 234. For the u-stem cf. μίσυ, βράθυ, σῶρυ a.o. (Chantraine Form. 119). Rejectable IE etymologies by Kretschmer KZ 31, 386 (to Skt mū́lam `root'; thus a.o. Güntert Götter und Geister 92ff.), Oštir Don. nat. Schrijnen 286ff. After Cocco Arch. glottol. it. 40, 10ff. Mediterranean word to μαλάχη etc.; by André (s.v.) rightly doubted. Cf. also Neumann Heth. u. luw. Sprachgut 28. s. on μώλυζα s.v., which has a non-Greek suffix (cf. κόνυζα, ὅρυζα); so prob. Pre-Greek.

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