Σπαθᾶν

to threadpack

Translated by William Hutton17 Mar 2014Vetting: high4 revisions

3 notes · 56 words
[Meaning] to speak aimlessly, or to consume profligately.1 Or to work. Aristophanes in Clouds [writes]: "I said, woman, you are threadpacking too much." Meaning you are working [too much].2
"For they had reached such a state of need from the scarcity of essentials as to moisten the roofing-thatch and give it to the draft-animals as feed."3

Greek original · Adler’s text

Σπαθᾶν· εἰκῇ λέγειν, ἢ ἀναλίσκειν ἀσώτως. ἢ ἐργάζεσθαι. Ἀριστοφάνης Νεφέλαις· ἔφασκον, ὦ γύναι, λίαν σπαθᾷς. ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐργάζῃ. ἐς τοῦτο γὰρ ἦλθον ἀνάγκης τῶν ἐπιτηδείων σπάνει, ὡς τοὺς ὀρόφους βρέχοντας διδόναι εἰς τροφὴν τοῖς ὑποζυγίοις.

Betacode
*spaqa=n: ei)kh=| le/gein, h)\ a)nali/skein a)sw/tws. h)\ e)rga/zesqai. *)aristofa/nhs *nefe/lais: e)/faskon, w)= gu/nai, li/an spaqa=|s. a)nti\ tou= e)rga/zh|. e)s tou=to ga\r h)=lqon a)na/gkhs tw=n e)pithdei/wn spa/nei, w(s tou\s o)ro/fous bre/xontas dido/nai ei)s trofh\n toi=s u(pozugi/ois.

Notes (3)

  1. The headword, which literally refers to the packing of woof threads on a loom with a blade-like instrument (spa/qh), is the present active infinitive of the verb spaqa/w (cf. sigma 900). The verb does not occur in this form in the quotations given, but does occur as a generic lexical reference in the scholia to Aristophanes (see n. 2).
  2. 1= Photius sigma430 Theodoridis; cf. Phrynichus fr. 300 (= Photius delta52, Suda delta 64). ↩
  3. 2Aristophanes, Clouds 55, with scholion. ↩
  4. 3Quotation (transmitted, in Adler's view, via the Excerpta Constantini Porphyrogeniti) unidentifiable. It does not contain any form of the headword verb, but does contain a form of the lookalike noun spa/nis ('scarcity'). It may therefore be, as Kuster suggested, a misplaced illustration for the Suda's entry for that word, sigma 903. ↩

Linked from3 entries

Neighbouring entries

σ896Σπαδώνcramp; castratoσ897Σπαδώνων ἤτοι ἀποκόπων Σπάδωνconcerning geldings or castrated menσ898Σπαθᾶνto threadpackσ899Σπάθημα φρενῶνstrike of witsσ900Σπαθῶσιthey thread-pack
Revision history4 revisions · last 26 May 2016
  1. coding — David Whitehead
  2. expanded n.3 — David Whitehead
  3. another x-ref and keyword; tweaking; raised status — David Whitehead
  4. set status — Catharine Roth
  5. Translated — William Hutton

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