ἕρμακες ὕφαλοι πέτραι

Grammatical information: n.

Meaning: `prop', in the Il. (and h. Ap. 507) in plur. of the supports (stones or beams), put under the ships when drawn on land; metaph. of men, `support, column' (Il.); `cliff under the sea, on which the ship gets stuck' (Alk. Supp. 26, 6, Hdt. 7, 183, Th. 7, 25); `stone, or another weight, that can serve as ballast' (Ar., Arist.); `hope of stones' (S. Ant. 848 [lyr.], AP 9, 319).

Compounds: XX [etym. unknown]

Derivatives: ἑρμί̄ς (or -ί̄ν), acc. ἑρμῖνα, dat. pl. - ῖσιν `post of a bed' (θ278, ψ 198, Hdt. 3, 16; cf. ῥηγμῖν- from ῥῆγμα, σταμῖν- etc.); vgl. Hdn. Gr. 2, 431 with etymological speculations. ἕρμαξ f. `heap of stones' (Nic. a. o.), Ngr. ἑρμακιά ( ἁρ-) `wall of dry stones', many derivv. in the lower Ital. diall, s. Rohlfs WB 78f.; ἕρμακες ὕφαλοι πέτραι H. (cf. λίθαξ, μύλαξ a. o.). ἑρμεών σωρὸς λίθων H. (cf. βολεών s. βάλλω etc.). ἑρματίτης πέτρος `stone serving as ballast' (Lyk. 618). ἑρματικός `standing fest, resting..' ( κράββατος, PGen. 68, 10; IV<sup>p</sup>). ἑρμαῖος λόφος `heap of stones' (π 471; uncertain, cf. on Έρμῆς). - Denomin. verbs. ἑρμάζω `support, make stable' (Hp.) with ἕρμασμα, - σμός (Hp.), ἕρμασις (Erot., also Trozen IV<sup>a</sup> [- σσ-]; cf. Fraenkel Nom. ag. 1, 149); ἑρματίζω `id.' (Hp.). - On Έρμῆς ( Έρμείας, Έρμάων) s. v.

Etymology: Difficult because of the divergent meanings. One supposed two or three diffrent words. So in WP. 1, 267 ἕρμα `cliff' is considered a separate word (with Froehde BB 17, 304) and connected with Skt. várṣman- n. `height, hill, top, point'. This etymology however disregards the most important element of cliffs under the sea. On the other hand ἕρμα as ballast of a ship in WP. 1, 265 is with Vaniček and Fick (s. also W.-Hofmann s. sērius) connected with Lith. sveriù `weigh', svarùs `heavy', OHG swār(i) ` schwer'. In the meaning `support, prop' (2, 528) one connects words for `pole etc.', e. g. Skt. sváru- `pole,...at a sacrifice', OE swer `post, column', Lat. surus `twig, sprout, pole'. But it is very doubtful whether ἕρμα ever meant `pole'. - An attempt to combime all meanings makes Porzig Satzinhalte 266: the orig. meaning would be a `stone (for propping up a ship)', from where `Ballast-stones', and on the other hand - sarcastically - also `cliffs under the sea'. - Formally ἕρμα seems a verbal noun in - μα with regular ε-vowel. For an etym. one might think of Lith. sveriù `weigh' and relatives (s. above); so orig. `heavy weight, stone', IE *su̯ér-mn̥. - Kretschmer Kleinas. Forsch. 1, 4 thinks ἕρμα is Anatolian, pointing to the Lydian river Ε῝ρμος ( πολυψήφιδα παρ' Ε῝ρμον Orac. ap. Hdt. 1, 55), partly to Lycian PN in Erm-, Arm-. For non-IE origin also Chantraine L'Ant. class. 22, 69. - Wrong Gonda Mnemos. 3: 6, 165f. (Lat. sĕra, Gr. ἅρπη `sickle', IE * ser-.) - I see no reason for foreign origin.

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