ὀψώνιον
εἰς τὸν τετρημένον πίθον ἀντλεῖν → run water into a punctured pitcher, to the perforated jar bale water, labour in vain, labor in vain
English (LSJ)
τό, (ὄψον, ὠνέομαι)
A salary, reckoned in money, τό τε ὀ. καὶ σιτομετρίαν καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον PCair.Zen.507.5, cf. 421.6, 483.14, 498.5 (all iii B. C.); ἵνα ἡμῖν ὀ. προστεθῇ καὶ σιτάριον ib.49.4 (iii B. C.); μετρήματα καὶ ὀ. corn- and money-payments, UPZ14.26 (ii B. C.); φυλακιτῶν PPetr.3p.230 (iii B. C.); of a bank clerk, PCair.Zen.342.6 (iii B. C.): distd. from γραμματικόν (bonus on turnover), PStrassb.105.4 (iii B. C.); χωρὶς ὀψωνίων, of unsalaried services, Inscr.Prien.121.34 (i B. C.). 2 a policeman's pay, PLille25.55 (iii B. C.), PFay.302 (ii B. C.), IG9(2).1109.27 (Thess., ii/i B. C.); freq. a soldier's pay, PStrassb.103.16 (iii B. C.), PTheb.Bank6.7 (ii B. C.), Plb.6.39.12: so in pl., pay of an army, Rev.Ét.Anc.33.8 (Theangela, iv/iii B. C.), OGI 229.106 (iii B. C.), SIG410.19 (iii B. C.), 581.34 (ii/i B. C.), Plb.1.67.1, 3.25.4, LXX 1 Ma.3.28, Aristeas 22. 3 allowance paid to a victorious athlete, PRyl. 153.25 (ii A. D.), CPHerm.54.7, al. (iii A. D.); allowance or scholarship paid to a music-student, προδοῦναί μοι τὸ ὀ. καὶ τὸ κατὰ μῆνα ἀνάλωμα PCair.Zen.440.6 (iii B. C.); allowance to a son or daughter, BGU665 ii 15 (i A. D.), POxy.898.31 (ii A. D.); to a slave, distd. from ἱματις μός, PCair.Zen.28.6, 100.14 (iii B. C.). 4 wages of labour, τὰ σώματα ἐνοχλεῖ ἡμᾶς τὰ ὀ. ἀπαιτοῦντα ib. 43.2, cf. 27.2, al., PPetr.2p.113 (all iii B. C.), POxy.974 (iii A. D.); ἀρτάβην κριθῆς εἰς λόγον ὀψωνίων PTeb.420.24 (iii A. D.): metaph., ὀψώνια ἁμαρτίας the wages of sin, Ep.Rom.6.23. 5 a magician's fee, PMag.Par.1.2454. 6 gratuity to tax-farmers, UPZ112v3 (pl.). 7 = ὄψον 1.1 (cf. Lat. obsonium), τῶν ἀνηλωμάτων πάντων σίτου καὶ ὀψωνίων ib.91.13 (ii B. C.).—The word is rejected by Phryn. 393. First used by Men.1051 (no context); ᾔτησεν εἰς ὀ. τριώβολον Thugen.2. Glossed ὀψωνία, also (in pl.) κέρδη, χαρίσματα, by Phot.
German (Pape)
[Seite 434] τό, = ὀψωνία, u. das Eingekaufte selbst. – Später übh. Kost, Proviant, Sold für ein Heer, wie ὀψωνιασμός, Pol. 6, 39, 12; im plur., 1, 67, 1; N. T.; aber vgl. Lob. Phryn. 420.
