- ἄρσην
- ἄρσην, -ενοςGrammatical information: adj.Meaning: `male' (Il.).Dialectal forms: Att. ἄρρην, Ion., Lesb., Cret. ἔρσην, Lac. ἄρσηςDerivatives: `Compar.' ἀρρέντερος `male' (Arc.), ἐρσεναίτερος (El.), after θηλύτερος?Origin: IE [Indo-European] [81] *uers- `male'?Etymology: With ἔρσην cf. Av. OPers. aršan- `man, male'; ἄρσην, ἄρρην will have zero grade, and is compared with Skt. r̥ṣa-bhá- `bull'. Doubtful is the connection with Skt. árṣati `flow'. Further there is Skt. vŕ̥ṣan- (to várṣati `rain'? s. on ἔρση, οὑρανός, οὑρέω); cf. Benveniste BSL 45, 100ff. - The difficulty is that an IE root cannot have vocalic anlaut; and h₁ would have given ἐ- throughout, and h₂ ἀ-. Therefore the word must have had Ϝ-; thus Peters, Lar. 9f. - Cf. ἀρνειός, ἀρνευτήρ.Page in Frisk: 1,152-153
Greek-English etymological dictionary (Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά ετυμολογική λεξικό). Robert S.P.. 2010.