Folio 84r - the nature of man, continued.
think that it is because the Greeks call them lassiria [dakrua].
Cilia is the word for the lids with which the eyes are covered. They are called cilium or scilium because they conceal, celare, the eyes and cover them to keep them safe.
Eyebrows, supercilia, are so called because they are placed above the eyelids. They are clad with hairs so as to offer protection to the eyes and turn aside the sweat which flows down from the head.
Intercilium, however, is space between the eyebrows which is without hairs.
The cheeks, gena, are the part of the face under the eyes, where the beard begins to grow. For the Greek word for beard is gene [geneias]. They are also called gena because it is here that the beard begins to grow, gigni.
The cheek bones, mala, are the protruding parts under the eyes, placed under them as protection. They are called mala either because they project under the eyes in their roundness, which the Greeks call mela [melon], or because they are placed above the jawbone, maxilla.
The jawbone, maxilla, is a diminutive of mala, as paxillus, peg, comes from palus, stake, taxillus, a small die, from talus, a full-sized die.
The mandibles, mandibule, are parts of the jaws, which is how they get their name.
The ancients called barba, beard, that which is peculiar to men, not women.
The word for ear, auris, comes from the phrase voces haurire, 'to hear voices'. In this context Virgil says: 'I have heard the voice with my ears' (see Aeneid, 4, 359).
Alternatively, it is so called because the Greek word for voice itself is audien [aude] from the same root as auditus, hearing. For by the substitution of a letter, ears are called aures for audes. For the voice, rebounding along the twisting passage by which the ears take in their sense of hearing, produces a sound.
The tip of the ear, pinnola, 'little point', gets its name from its sharpness. For the ancients called anything sharp pinnion. From this we get bipennis, two-edged, and pinna, a fin.
The nostrils, nares, are so called because odour or breath continually flows, manare, through them, or because through odour they warn us, admonere, that we should learn something from an odour. For this reason, in contrast, the unlearned and uncouth are called ignari, ignorant. The ancients said that to smell something was to know something. Terence: 'And would they not have smelled it six whole months before he started anything?' (Adelphi, 397).
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
Isidore on the parts of the face.
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
existimant quod Greci lassiria vocant. Cilia sunt tegmina\ quibus cooperiuntur oculi. Et dicta scilia quod celent oculos,\ tegantque, tuta custodia. Supercilia dicta, quia superposita sunt\ ciliis. Que iccirco pilis vestita sunt, ut oculis munimenta\ pretendant, et sudorem a capite defluentem depellant. Inter\cilium vero est medium illud inter supercilia quod sine pilis\ est. Gene sunt inferiores oculorum partes, unde barbe\ inchoant. Nam Grece gene barbe. Hinc et gene quod inde\ incipiant barbe gigni. Male sunt eminentes sub oculis\ partes ad protectionem eorum subposite. Vocate autem\ male sive quod infra oculos in rotunditatem prominent,\ que Greci melam appellant sive quod sunt supra maxillas.\ Maxille per diminutionem a malis sicut paxillus a palo\ taxillus a talo. Mandibule sunt maxillarum partes, ex\ qua et nomen factum. Barbam veteres vocaverunt quod\ virorum sit non mulierum. Aurium inde dictum nomen\ a vocibus hauriendis. Unde et Virgilius: Vocemque his au\ribus hausi. Aut quia vocem ipsam Greci audien[lidien] vocant\ ab auditu. Per immutationem enim littere aures quasi\ audes nuncupate sunt. Vox enim repercussa per anfractus\ quo sensum excipiant audiendi earum sompnum facit.\ Pinnola summa pars auris ab acumine dicta. Pinnion\ enim antiqui acutum dicebant. Unde et bipennis et pin\na. Nares iccirco nominantur, quia per eas odor vel spiritus\ manare non desinit, sive quia nos odore admonent, ut o\dorem aliquid acuamus. Unde econtra inscii ac rudes\ ignari dicuntur. Olfecisse enim veteres scisse dicebant. Terentius:\ Ac non toti sex mensibus prius olfecissent, quam ille quicquam ceperit.\Translation
think that it is because the Greeks call them lassiria [dakrua]. Cilia is the word for the lids with which the eyes are covered. They are called cilium or scilium because they conceal, celare, the eyes and cover them to keep them safe. Eyebrows, supercilia, are so called because they are placed above the eyelids. They are clad with hairs so as to offer protection to the eyes and turn aside the sweat which flows down from the head. Intercilium, however, is space between the eyebrows which is without hairs. The cheeks, gena, are the part of the face under the eyes, where the beard begins to grow. For the Greek word for beard is gene [geneias]. They are also called gena because it is here that the beard begins to grow, gigni. The cheek bones, mala, are the protruding parts under the eyes, placed under them as protection. They are called mala either because they project under the eyes in their roundness, which the Greeks call mela [melon], or because they are placed above the jawbone, maxilla. The jawbone, maxilla, is a diminutive of mala, as paxillus, peg, comes from palus, stake, taxillus, a small die, from talus, a full-sized die. The mandibles, mandibule, are parts of the jaws, which is how they get their name. The ancients called barba, beard, that which is peculiar to men, not women. The word for ear, auris, comes from the phrase voces haurire, 'to hear voices'. In this context Virgil says: 'I have heard the voice with my ears' (see Aeneid, 4, 359). Alternatively, it is so called because the Greek word for voice itself is audien [aude] from the same root as auditus, hearing. For by the substitution of a letter, ears are called aures for audes. For the voice, rebounding along the twisting passage by which the ears take in their sense of hearing, produces a sound. The tip of the ear, pinnola, 'little point', gets its name from its sharpness. For the ancients called anything sharp pinnion. From this we get bipennis, two-edged, and pinna, a fin. The nostrils, nares, are so called because odour or breath continually flows, manare, through them, or because through odour they warn us, admonere, that we should learn something from an odour. For this reason, in contrast, the unlearned and uncouth are called ignari, ignorant. The ancients said that to smell something was to know something. Terence: 'And would they not have smelled it six whole months before he started anything?' (Adelphi, 397).
