ῥᾶ (1)

ῥᾶ

Grammatical information: Adv.

Meaning: `easy' (Alcm., S.Fr. 1086, Ion. trag.).

Other forms: ep. ῥῆα (wr. ῥεῖα), ῥέα (monosyll. reading necessary or possible; so for Aeol. ῥᾶ?), Ion. ῥέᾱ (Simon.), Aeol. βρᾶ ( = Ϝρᾶ, gramm., ῥῆα in Alc. homerism or mistake of the tradit.).

Compounds: As 1. member in ῥᾳ-θυμος `lighthearted, carefree' (Att.) from *ῥαΐ-θυμος (as καλλί-ζωνος a.o.), if not secondary for the well attested ῥά-θυμος (Wackernagel Hell. 26 = Kl. Schr. 2, 1057).

Derivatives: Comp.forms: comp. ep. ῥηΐτερον, Ion. ῥῄτερον (Thgn.), Dor. ῥᾳτερον (Pi.), also Ion. ῥήϊον, Att. ῥᾳ̃ον; to this ῥᾶσσον (gramm. in EM) after θᾶσσον (Seiler Steigerungsformen 73); sup. ep. ῥηΐτατα, Ion. ῥήϊστα, Dor. ῥάϊστα (Theoc.), Att. ῥᾳ̃στα. From the adv. arose the adj. forms ῥηΐτερος, ῥήϊστος, ῥᾳων, ῥᾳ̃στος; from ῥῆα, ῥᾶ the pos. ῥη-ϊδίως, Att. ῥᾳδίως, Aeol. βρα-ϊδίως (Alc.), to which the adj. ῥηΐδιος, ῥᾳδιος (like μαψ-ιδίως, -ίδιος a.o.); to this ῥᾳδιέστερος a. o. -- From ῥήϊον, ῥᾳ̃ον: ῥηΐζω, ῥαΐζω, aor. -ίσαι `to recover' (IA.) and ῥαΐαν ὑγείαν H. From ῥήϊστος, ῥᾳ̃στος : ῥῃστώνη, ῥᾳστώνη f. `recovery, leisurely condition, leisure' (IA.); formation unclear, cf. Schwyzer IF 45, 259ff., Meid IF 62, 277. Further details in Schwyzer 467 a. 539, Wackernagel Verm. Beitr. 11ff. (= Kl. Schr. 1, 772ff.), Seiler Steigerungsformen 72f., Leumann Hom. Wörter 18 n. 10.

Origin: XX [etym. unknown]

Etymology: From ep. ῥῆα and Aeol. βρᾶ we reconstruct PGr. *Ϝρᾶα, which can stand for *Ϝρᾶσ-α, perh. for *Ϝρᾶι̯-α; on the ending -α Schwyzer 622. No doubt old, inherited word, but without certain etymology. After Hermann Gött. Nachr. 1918, 281 f. prop. `raisable' (Lat. levis : levāre), to Lith. viršùs `the upper', Skt. vársman-'hight', to which also ἀπηύρα, ἀπούρας (doubts in Kretschmer Glotta 11, 249). To ἀπηύρα (but further diff.) also Schwyzer IF 45, 259ff. Still diff. Specht KZ 59, 93ff.: to ἀραιός `thin' (s. Schwyzer 539 w. n. 3). Szemerényi, Welt d. Slaven (1967) 272f. connects Av. uruuāza- `joy, bliss', from IE *u̯rādh-s- (but then the -s- would have been preserved in Greek); Pisani Acme 8(1955)117f.

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