жрьти

Forms

жрьти (žrĭti) impf^[1] Also written жрѣти; present жьрѫ, жьреши.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *žьrti (“to sacrifice”).^[1][3] The verb survives in Old East Slavic, and its derivatives in Russian жрец (žrec, “pagan priest”) and Russian жертва (žertva, “sacrifice”).^[3][4][1]

It is generally taken to continue Proto-Balto-Slavic *gírˀtei (“to praise”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to approve, praise”).^[1][3] It is thus related to Lithuanian gìrti (“to praise”), Old Prussian girtwei (“to praise”) and Latvian dzir̃t (“to praise, honour”), and to Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇā́ti, “to praise, invoke”).^[3][5][1][4] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller and Vasmer add Latin grātus (“pleasing, thankful”).^[5][4] An older explanation derived it from a root meaning “to raise the voice”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels the verb occurs once, for the Passover sacrifice: приде же дьнь опрѣснъкъ • въ н҄ьже подобьно бѣ жръти пасхѫ “then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover had to be sacrificed” (L 22, 7, Zographensis and Marianus), for Ancient Greek θύω (thúō, “to sacrifice”).^[6][2] Most of its uses are in the Suprasliensis.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The SJS sorts the uses by the kind of offering: pagan sacrifices, as when the martyrs are ordered to sacrifice to the gods (Supr), the Jewish sacrifices of the Old Testament, and the Christian sacrifice to Christ.^[6] It renders θύειν, ἐπιθύειν, λατρεύειν, τελεῖν and σπένδειν.^[6][2] In the phrase жрьти и оскврьнити сѧ it translates μιαροφαγεῖν, eating food offered to idols.^[2] The Pauline пасха наша за нꙑ жьренъ бꙑстъ “our Passover was sacrificed for us” (1C 5, 7) gave way in other manuscripts to закланъ, “slain”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sacrifice, to offer a sacrifice (to a god); for θύειν.^[6][2][1]
2. To offer (a victim, the Passover lamb).^[6][1]

Word family

• жрьтва
• жрьтвьникъ
• жрьць
• жрътиѥ

Usage notes

Derksen files OCS пожрѣти “to swallow, devour” under a different Proto-Slavic verb, Proto-Slavic *žerti (“to devour”),^[8] while Sadnik and Aitzetmüller head the family of this verb with пожръти “to sacrifice”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
3. ^ a b c d e Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 566
4. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 2, 63
5. ^ a b c Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 340
6. ^ a b c d e f Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
7. ^ Eckhoff, Hanne M.; Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs et al., TOROT: The Tromsø Old Russian and OCS Treebank, release 20200116, torottreebank.github.io
8. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 559