[Meaning] they strike [someone] on the colon.[1]
Aristophanes in
Clouds [writes]: "they always trample on the coward".[2] Or they tread on. [The term comes] from those treading the olives.[3] But some [derive it from] jumping on the belly.[4]
*koletrw=si: kata\ tou= ko/lou tu/ptousin. *)aristofa/nhs *nefe/lais: to\n dei/laion koletrw=sin a)ei/. h)\ katapatou=sin. a)po\ tw=n ta\s e)lai/as katapatou/ntwn. oi( de\ to\ e)na/llesqai th=| koili/a|.
[1] From the scholiast to
Aristophanes Clouds 552 (cf. next note): "our forebears called 'striking the colon'
koletrw=sin".
[2]
Aristophanes,
Clouds 552 (on Hyperbolos:
upsilon 245).
[3] From the scholiast, and
Hesychius kappa3328;
Hesychius adds "[an activity] which is called
koletra=n". In
Photius kappa884 Theodoridis, "they tread, literally olives". This is probably the true origin of the lemma, with the scholiast's derivation from "colon" a folk etymology: -e- is implausible as a binding vowel. Frisk s.v. suspects an unattested *
ko/letron or *
kole/tra underlying the verb.
[4] From the scholiast, and with slight rewording
Hesychius: "they jump on the colon --- meaning the gut". Also in
Photius loc.cit.
Catharine Roth (keywords, cosmetics, status) on 5 January 2009@14:00:37.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks and cosmetics) on 6 January 2009@04:27:41.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaking) on 7 March 2013@03:42:39.
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