LEXICON OF ORIENTAL WORDS IN ANCIENT GREEK

ἀπουσί <Egyptian; Roman period>

👉 ἀπουσί – an Egyptian gloss with the meaning of ἐλελίσφακον ‘sage (a species of Salvia L., esp. Salvia officinalis L.)’ (Dsc. 3.33 RV).

Dsc. 3.33 RV: ἐλελίσφακον· (...) Αἰγύπτιοι ἀπουσί (...). – “Elelisphakon (sage): (...) the Egyptians (call it) apusi (...)”. Cf. the Egyptian gloss in Ps.-Apul., Herb. 102: anusi (v.l. anuri) ‘id.’.

🅔 An Egyptian word without etymology. Cf. two explanations: 1. from the Egyptian jbsꜣ ‘a plant’; 2. from the Egyptian jns.t ‘a plant’; on the basis of anusi and ἀπουσί (corrected to ἀνουσί), jns.t was identified as ‘sage’.

📖 Ref.: cf. Germer 2008: 31; Loret 1892: 54; Wiedemann 1883: 12.