ὤψ

Forms

ὤψ (ṓps) f (genitive ὠπός); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an old formation with a lengthened vowel beside from Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps, “eye, face”).^[2][3][1] ὄψ continues *ókʷs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ókʷs, a root noun of *h₃ekʷ- (“to see”), the root of ὄπωπα (ópōpa) and ὄψομαι (ópsomai).^[1][2] Wiktionary calls the lengthening unexpected.^[1] The old dual of the same noun is ὄσσε (ósse, “the two eyes”).^[1]

The gender was already disputed in antiquity: the Etymologicum Magnum makes it feminine, Aristophanes of Byzantium and Eustathius masculine, probably after ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmós), and Sommer argued for a neuter.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer and Hesiod the word occurs only in the accusative ὦπα, in the phrase εἰς ὦπα “in the face”: to look someone in the face, or to be like a goddess “in face”.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The old forms survive only in fixed phrases: εἰς ὦπα and ἐνῶπα (enôpa), in κατ’ ἐνῶπα “face to face”.^[2][3] Later writers made new forms from them: Plato uses a neuter plural τὰ ὦπα “the eyes” in an etymology in the Cratylus, Theocritus an accusative plural ὦπας in an epigram, and Maximus a dative plural ὤπεσσι.^[4][5][2]

The stem is far more alive in compounds and derivatives: πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face”), μέτωπον (métōpon, “forehead”), ὑπώπιον (hupṓpion, “the part under the eyes; a black eye”), and adjectives in -ωψ and -ῶπις such as βοῶπις (boôpis) and γλαυκῶπις (glaukôpis).^[2][3][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use εἰς ὦπα “in the face”.^[4][6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the same phrase in the Works and Days.^[4][7][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses a neuter plural τὰ ὦπα “the eyes”.^[4][5][8]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses the accusative plural ὦπας in an epigram.^[4][5][8]
• 2nd century AD – Maximus uses the dative plural ὤπεσσι.^[4][2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The face, countenance; in Homer and Hesiod only in εἰς ὦπα “in the face”, of looking at someone or resembling someone.^[5][4]
2. (plural) The eyes.^[5][4]

Word family

• βοῶπις (boôpis)
• γλαυκῶπις (glaukôpis)
• πρόσωπον (prósōpon)
• μέτωπον (métōpon)
• ὑπώπιον (hupṓpion)
• ἐνῶπα (enôpa)
• εἰσωπός (eisōpós)

Related words

• ὄσσε (ósse)
• ὄμμα (ómma)
• ὄψις (ópsis)
• ὄψομαι (ópsomai)
• ὄψ (óps)
• ὄπωπα (ópōpa)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge