Demetrius Constantinopolitanus ὠοῦ τὸ κρόκον dixit, Eustathius τὸ ἐν τοῖς ὠοῖς κροκοειδές. Λέκιθος (per iota in penult. malim per ypsilon) proprie τὸ ξανθόν τοῦ ὠοῦ διὰ τὸ λέπει κεύθεσθαι, Scholiastes Aristophanis. Vitellum ovi lecithon dici a Graecis scio, et approbat ad Glauconem primo Galenus. Caeterum λέκιθος masc. gen. (Eustathio teste) leguminis genus est, quod pisum (πίσον, Scholiastes Aristophanis. apud Suidam πισσός oxytonum duplici s. scriptum non probo) alias nuncupant, quod in Pisa Elidis abunde nascatur: refert autem colore luteum ovi, unde ei nomen. Λεκιθοπώλης masc. gen. paroxytonum vero cum iota in ultima, λεκιθόπωλις, foeminini, mulier quae lecithon, id est pisum, et synecdochice quaevis legumina vendit, ὀσπριόπωλις, Suidas. aut vilissima omnino. tanquam nugivendula, ut Plauti[1] verbo utamur, Caelius. sunt qui etiam ova vendentem interpretentur, ut Suidas habet, quod minus placet.

Demetrius of Constantinople - Demetrius Cydones? - said øoû tò krókon - the saffron of the egg, Eustathius of Thessalonica said tò en toîs øoîs krokoeidés - what has a saffron color and is present in the eggs. Lékithos - the yolk (with iota in the penultimate syllable, I would prefer with y) properly is the yellow of the egg that is hidden thanks to the shell - tò xanthón toû øoû dià tò lépei keúthesthai, the commentator of Aristophanes I know that the yolk of the egg is said lékithos by Greeks and Galen agrees in the first book of his Ad Glauconem de medendi methodo. After all lékithos in masculine gender (Eustathius is witness of this) is a type of legume - the pea or the inner part of the lentils depending on the authors - who otherwise call it pea (the commentator of Aristophanes calls it píson, I don't agree with pissós oxytone and with two s of the lexicon Suidas), since it would be born in abundance in the territory of Pisa in Elis: in fact by the color it recalls the yellow of the egg, from which the name of lékithos has been assigned to it. Lekithopølës paroxytone of masculine gender, on the contrary lekithópølis of feminine gender with iota in the last syllable, is a woman selling the lékithos, that is, the pea, and for synecdoche she sells any type of vegetables, ospriópølis - seller of vegetables, lexicon Suida. Or wholly very despicable, as well as a seller of trifles, using the word employed by Plautus - in Aulularia, Lodovico Ricchieri . Some would interpret lekithópølis as she who sells also the eggs, as the lexicon Suida reports, but it seems me less appropriate.

Sed Cornarius libro quinto Commentariorum in Galeni libros de compos. sec. loc. Lecythopolae (inquit[2]) Graecis appellantur, non qui pisa aut ova vendunt, sed pulmentaria e farinis leguminum elixatis et pinguedine aliqua conditis. nam edulium ex cicere et reliquis leguminibus fractis ἔτνος appellatur, sicut ex farina eorundem pulmentarium quod in aqua coquitur pingui adiecto, λέκυθος (malim per iota in penultima in hac significatione. ut in Galeni etiam Glossis legimus, Λέκιθον φακῶν, τὸ ἔνδον τοῦ λέπους. id est lentium pars interior, intra corticem, vel a cortice separata) velut in libro de boni et mali succi cibis Galenus ipse declarat. quare κυαμίνη λέκυθος, nihil aliud est quam fabae lomentum elixatum. Ad clavos et callos facit λέκυθος κυαμίνη μετ’ὄξους ἑψηθεῖσα, Paulo lib. 3. cap. 80. Idem ὀρόβινον λέκυθον, id est ervi farinam sive lomentum habet libro 3. cap. 25. et Hippocrates in Spuriis ad primum De muliebribus adiectis, Πτισσάνης (inquit[3]) λέκυθον ἐμβαλών ἐν χοέα ὕδατος, ἕψε μέχρι λιπαρός γεύηται. Caeterum Artemidorus lib. 5. somnio 85. λέκυθον ovi testam appellat, nisi corrupta est lectio, et κέλυφος (aut λέπυρον) fortasse legendum. Verba eius haec sunt: Ἔδοξέ τις δοῦλος παρὰ τῆς δεσποίνης ὠόν λαβεῖν ἑφθόν, καὶ τὸν μὲν λέκυθον ἀποῤῥίψαι, τῷ δὲ ὠῷ καταχρήσασθαι, Haec fere Cornarius.

But Janus Cornarius in the fifth book of Commentaries to De compositione medicamentorum secundum locos of Galen says: By Greeks are said Lecythopolae - sellers of legumes' flour - not those women selling peas or eggs, on the contrary dishes gotten from boiled legumes' flours and seasoned with some fat. In fact a food gotten from the chickpea and from the other minced legumes is said étnos - cream of legumes, as is also said lékythos - mashed legumes - a dish gotten by a flour of themselves cooked in water with addition of fat (I would prefer that lékythos, with this meaning, had the iota in the penultimate syllable, as we also read in the glosses of Galen, Lékithon phakøn, tò éndon toû lépous - mashed lentils, the inner part of the peel - that is, the inner part of lentils, inside the peel, that is, separated from the peel) as Galen himself affirms in De bonis malisque succis. Thence the kyamínë lékythos - mashed broad beans - is nothing else but a cream of boiled broad beans. The mashed broad beans cooked with vinegar are good for bulges and calluses - lékythos kyamínë met'óxous epsëtheîsa, in Paul of Aegina book 3 chapter 80. Still he in the book 3 chapter 25 reports: that is, flour or cream of vetch - oróbinon lékython, mashed vetches. And Hippocrates in the spurious books added to the first book of De morbis muliebribus says: Ptissánës lékython embaløn en choéa hýdatos, hépse méchri liparós geúëtai - make to boil mashed husked barley throwing a jug of water until when it is consistent. On the other hand Artemidorus Daldianus in the 5^th book dream 85 of Onirocritica calls lékython the eggshell, unless the text is wrong, thence perhaps we have to read kélyphos - shell (or lépyron - shell). These are his words: Édoxé tis doûlos parà tës despoínës øón labeîn hephthón, kaì tòn mèn lékython aporrhípsai tøi dè øøi katachrësasthai - a servant was seen to take a boiled egg from his owner woman, and to throw away the shell, and to use the egg, Janus Cornarius writes more or less these things.

Etymologia quidem tum interiori leguminum parti ex qua farina fit, tum ovi luteo fere convenire videtur, quoniam utrunque intra suum corticem continetur, quanquam vitellus non immediate, διὰ τὸ λέπει κεύθεσθαι. Legumen omne tribus modis manditur, inquit Athenaeus[4]. aut enim ex eo fit quod etnos dicitur, ut ex faba et piso. aut lecithos, ut ex araco aut phace. aut ex aphaca et lente, Hermolaus. Meleager Graecus author volumen singulare scripsit, lecithi et phaces comparationem continens, Idem: ubi lecithus absolute pro sui generis legumine accipiendus videtur: aut pro lente molita vel saltem a corticibus separata, nam φακόν lentem crudam interpretantur, φακήν coctam: potest autem coqui vel cum corticibus suis, ut sic cocta φακῆ dicatur: vel absque illis, λέκιθος. Nec illud tacuerim lecython pro gutto oleario et ampulla falso a quibusdam coepisse lenticulam vocari: nescio quam perite, cum lenticula vasculum non sit magis quam id quod Graeci discum vocant, etc. In summa lecithos pro legumine, aliquando pro putamine, per iota scribitur: pro vitello per y. pro ampulla per u. potius quam per y. Hermolaus. Verum pro ampulla per u. ut Hermolaus putat, sed per y. penultima scribitur, prima vero per e. longum, λήκυθος, cum in aliis significationibus per ε. scribatur, id est e. breve.

Then it seems that the etymology entirely agrees with both the inner part of the legumes from which the flour comes, and the yolk of the egg, since both are contained inside their covering, even if the yolk is not at direct contact, dià tò lépei keúthesthai - it is hidden thanks to the shell. Any type of legume is eaten in three manners, says Athenaeus. In fact from it it is made what in Greek is said étnos - mashed legumes, as with broad bean and pea. Or the lékithos - the inner part of lentils - is made, as with the chickling pea or with the phakós - the lentil. Or with the aphakë - the vetch- and the lentil, Ermolao Barbaro. The Greek author Meleager of Gadara wrote a striking satirical composition containing a comparison between the inner part of the lentil and the lentil, still Ermolao, who writes: in it it seems that lékithos must be understood in absolute meaning as a particular kind of legume, or as the ground lentil or at least separated from the peel, in fact they mean as raw lentil the phakós, phakë that cooked: in fact it can be cooked both with its peel, so that cooked in this way is said phakë, and is said lékithos without the peel. And I don't would like to pass over that wrongly some people started to call the lentil lékython in the meaning of a small bottle for oil and a cruet: I don't know with what degree of competence, since the lentil is not a pot more than what the Greeks call diskós - round dish, etc. In conclusion: lékithos is written with iota in the meaning of legume, sometimes with the meaning of shell. To mean the yolk is written with y and with u rather than with y to mean a cruet, Ermolao. In truth in the meaning of cruet, written with u as Ermolao thinks, on the contrary it must be written with y in penultimate syllable, while the first syllable must be written with long e - or eta, lëkythos, while in the other meanings must be written with the epsilon, that is with short e.

Eustatius in sextum Odysseae λήκυθον olearium vas dictum scribit παρὰ τὸ ἔλαιον κεύθειν, quod et ὄλπη vocetur, διὰ τὸ ἔλαιον {πεπάσθαι} <πεπᾶσθαι>, ἤγουν κεκτῆσθαι: e pretiosa materia fieri solitum. non solum enim ad oleum simplex, sed etiam ad unguenta eius, usus erat. Hinc forte verbum ληκυθίζειν apud Strabonem lib. 13.[5] (pro quo quidam inepte in Lexicon Graecolatinum vulgare retulit λυκιθίζειν) μηδέν φιλοσοφεῖν πραγματικῶς, ἀλλὰ θέσεις ληκυθίζειν: quod quidam exponit themata et argumenta fictitia elaborare. Varinus interpretatur τὸ μεῖζον βοᾶν καὶ ψοφεῖν, ληκυθιστήν vero non τὸν μέγα βοῶντα, sed contra τὸν μικρόφωνον.

Eustathius in the commentary to the 6^th book of Odyssey writes that the container for oil is said lëkythos - cruet - parà tò élaion keúthein - on the basis of containing the oil, since it would be also said ólpë - cruet of the oil - dià tò élaion pepâsthai, ëgoun kektësthai - on the basis of acquiring the oil, or, to possess it: usually it is constituted by precious material. In fact it was not habit to use it only for mere oil, but also for the ointments prepared from it. From which perhaps comes the verb lëkythízein - to pompously declaim - present in 13^th  book of Strabo (instead of this verb someone foolishly reported lykithízein) mëdén philosopheîn pragmatikøs, allà théseis lëkythízein - to don't philosophize at all starting from the facts, on the contrary to pompously declaim generic matters: which someone translates with to elaborate themes and fictitious matters. But Varinus interprets tò meîzon boân kaì psopheîn, lëkythistën - to shout more and to clamour as one who declaims with emphatic voice, not one crying out loudly - tòn méga boønta, but on the contrary as he who has a thin voice - tòn mikróphønon.

Placenta λεκιθίτης dicebatur, cui admixtus erat vitellus ovi, Eustathius. Theophrastus[6] loti Aegyptiae radicem decoctam, lecithodem fieri ciboque gratam scribit: hoc est araci leguminis alterius in modum: quanquam Theodorus albumen ovi, quemadmodum in ea voce luteum intellexerit, vehementer miror. cum {lecythos} <lecithos> vitellum ovi potius quam candidum significare videatur. hoc primi vidimus, seu recte seu perperam: certe si erravimus, utilis et eruditus error futurus est, Hermolaus. videtur autem aliquid in his verbis esse corruptum, et sic legendum: Quanquam Theodorus albumen ovi cur potius in ea voce quam luteum intellexerit, etc. Locus est apud Theophrastum de hist. plant. 4. 10.[7] Ubi Theophrasti verba sunt, φλοιός περὶ αὐτὴν μέλας, τὸ δὲ ἐντός λευκόν. ἑψόμενον δὲ καὶ ὀπτώμενον γίνεται λεκιθώδες. {ἡδύς} <ἡδύ> δὲ ἐν τῇ προσφορᾷ, Ubi Gaza vertit, elixum assumque in speciem albuminis verti, sed inepte, ut Hermolao etiam videtur. Verum is quoque errat, lecithum hoc loco aracum legumen interpretatus: cum Dioscorides[8], qui tortum fere caput de hac stirpe ex Theophrasto transcripsit, coctam eius radicem scribat τῇ ποιότητι ἀναλογεῖν λεκύθῳ ὠοῦ, hoc est qualitate referre luteum ovi. Marcellus pari saporis qualitate esse transfert. Sed forte ad substantiam potius coloremque referri convenit. cum Theophrastus doceat partem internam alias quidem albam esse, coctam vero λεκιθώδες fieri. sic enim bilem quoque λεκιθώδες, id est vitellinam dictam a coloris et crassitiei similitudine apud veteres medicos novimus.

The flat bread was said lekithítës - bread of legumes' flour, with which egg yolk was mixed, Eustathius. Theophrastus writes that the boiled root of Egyptian lotus becomes in color similar to the yolk - lekithødes - and pleasant as food: this is an alternative to the legume said chickling pea, even if I wonder, very marvelled, how Theodore Gaza has been able to exchange that word for egg white instead of yolk. Being that lékithos seems to mean the yolk of the egg rather than the egg white. I first realized this, both rightly and wrongly: certainly, if I have been wrong, it will become an useful and erudite mistake, Ermolao Barbaro. For it seems that something in these words is incorrect and we have to read this way: Even if we wonder why Theodore in that word meant the egg white of the egg instead of the yolk, etc. A passage exists in 4,8,11 of Historia plantarum of Theophrastus in which the words of Theophrastus are as follows: Phloiós perì autën mélas, tò dè entós leukón. Epsómenon dè kaì optømenon gínetai lekithødes. Hëdý dè en tëi prosphorâi. Where Gaza translates with: boiled and roasted it takes the appearance of the egg white, but foolishly, as it also seems to Ermolao. To say the truth also the latter makes here a mistake by meaning in this passage lékithos as being the legume chickling pea: since Dioscorides, who, almost twisting the head, transcribed the text from Theophrastus regarding this plant, writes that its root when is cooked tëi poióteti analogeîn lekýthøi øoû, that is, for quality is similar to the yolk of the egg. Marcello Virgilio Adriani translates that as quality it has the same taste - of the yolk. But perhaps it is worthwhile to rather refer to the substance and the color. Being that Theophrastus informs that after all the inner part is white indeed, while when cooked becomes lekithødes - similar to the yolk. In fact we learned from ancient physicians that because of this also the bile is said lekithødes, that is, similar to the yolk, for reasons of similarity about the color and the consistence

¶ Ovi testam Serenus, aliqui putamen, Plinius[9] calicem quoque vocant. Graeci[10] κέλυφος, quod Suidas interpretatur τὸ λέπυρον τοῦ ὠοῦ. item λέπος[11], ut Anatolius, et λέμμα Aristophanes[12]. Ovi putamen celyphanon dixit in Alexandra Lyocophron[13]. quanquam eo nomine quilibet censeri cortex valeat, Caelius. Hippocrates[14] in libro de natura pueri τὰ λεπύρια dixit: Aristoteles ὄστρακον.[15]

¶ Serenus calls testa the shell of the egg, some call it putamen - shell, Pliny also calix. The Greeks say kélyphos, which the lexicon Suidas interprets as tò lépyron toû øoû - the shell of the egg. Likewise, as Anatolius, they say lépos, and Aristophanes lémma. Lycophron in the tragedy Alexandra said kelýphanon - shell, although into this word could be included any sort of coating, Lodovico Ricchieri. Hippocrates in De natura pueri said tà lepýria - the shells, Aristotle óstrakon.